Verse 22 continues Jerusalem’s plea for the LORD to punish her enemies just as he is punishing Jerusalem.

Let all their evil-doing come before thee shows Jerusalem pleading to God that her enemies be punished for their wickedness. This expression is idiomatic and means “Look at, examine, observe for the purpose of judging.” In some languages it will be necessary to translate, for example, “Look at the evil deeds they have done” or “Punish them for their wicked deeds.” Good News Translation “Condemn them…” expresses the idea well.

Deal with them as thou hast dealt with me: deal translates a general verb meaning “to treat”; that is, “treat them as you have treated me.” A translation which spells out the sense of the general verb may be, for example, “make them suffer the way you have made me suffer.”

Because of all my transgressions: transgressions is the same as in verse 5. See there for comments. In some languages it may be clearer to place this expression before the plea; for example, “You have made me suffer because I rebelled against you. Now make my enemies suffer too.”

For my groans are many: the final unit is introduced by the Hebrew particle ki, which normally introduces a clause of reason, and therefore Revised Standard Version has for. In some languages it will be necessary to make the relation between these final two half-lines and those before them clearer by saying, for example, “I say all of this as I groan in suffering.”

The speaker closes the chapter by adding my heart is faint, which translates “my heart (is) faint.” Here the heart stands for the whole person. This expression is often rendered idiomatically; for example, “my insides tremble” or “my liver has vanished.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on Lamentations. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .