The joy of our heart is ceased; Our dance is turned into mourning.
"For this our heart is faint ... our eyes dim, for the mountain of Zion ... is desolate: the foxes walk upon it"  (Lamentations 5:17-18).  The last clause here is better rendered, "The jackals prowl over it."[17]  "These words are a transition to the final appeal.  Although the thought of Zion's desolation is overwhelming, the prophet will lift himself up again when he recalls the sublime truth of the inviolable security of Israel's God."[18]