1Look at how the gold has lost its brightness! See how dull the fine gold has become! The sacred jewels are scattered at every street corner.2The priceless children of Zion were worth their weight in gold. But now they are thought of as clay pots made by the hands of a potter.3Even wild dogs feed their young pups. But my people are as mean as ostriches in the desert.4When the babies get thirsty, their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths. When the children beg for bread, no one gives them any.5Those who once ate fine food are dying in the streets. Those who wore royal clothes are now lying on piles of rubbish.6My people have been punished more than Sodom was. It was destroyed in a moment. No one offered it a helping hand.7Jerusalem’s princes were brighter than snow. They were whiter than milk. Their bodies were redder than rubies. They looked like lapis lazuli.8But now they are blacker than coal. No one even recognises them in the streets. Their skin is wrinkled on their bones. It has become as dry as a stick.9Those killed by swords are better off than those who die of hunger. Those who are hungry waste away to nothing. They don’t have any food from the fields.10With their own hands, loving mothers have had to cook even their own children. They ate their children when my people were destroyed.11The LORD has become very angry. He has poured out his burning anger. He started a fire in Zion. It burned its foundations.12The kings of the earth couldn’t believe what was happening. Neither could any of the peoples of the world. Enemies actually attacked and entered the gates of Jerusalem.13It happened because Jerusalem’s prophets had sinned. Her priests had done evil things. All of them spilled the blood of those who did what was right.14Now those prophets and priests have to feel their way along the streets as if they were blind. The blood of those they killed has made them ‘unclean’. So no one dares to touch their clothes.15‘Go away! You are “unclean”!’ people cry out to them. ‘Go away! Get out of here! Don’t touch us!’ So they run away and wander around. Then people among the nations say, ‘They can’t stay here anymore.’16The LORD himself has scattered them. He doesn’t watch over them anymore. No one shows the priests any respect. No one honours the elders.17And that’s not all. Our eyes grew tired. We looked for help that never came. We watched from our towers. We kept looking for a nation that couldn’t save us.18People hunted us down no matter where we went. We couldn’t even walk in our streets. Our end was near, so we only had a few days to live. Our end had come.19Those who were hunting us down were faster than eagles in the sky. They chased us over the mountains. They hid and waited for us in the desert.20Zedekiah, the LORD’s anointed king, was our last hope. But he was caught in their traps. We thought he would keep us safe. We expected to continue living among the nations.21People of Edom, be joyful. You who live in the land of Uz, be glad. But the cup of the LORD’s anger will also be passed to you. Then you will become drunk. Your clothes will be stripped off.22People of Zion, the time for you to be punished will come to an end. The LORD won’t keep you away from your land any longer. But he will punish your sin, people of Edom. He will show everyone the evil things you have done.
Lamentations 4
English Standard Version
The Holy Stones Lie Scattered
1How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The holy stones lie scattered at the head of every street. (Isa 1:22; Jer 6:30; La 2:19)2The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen pots, the work of a potter’s hands! (Ps 19:10; Jer 19:11)3Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young; but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.4The tongue of the nursing infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives to them. (Ps 22:15; La 2:11)5Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple embrace ash heaps. (2Sa 1:24)6For the chastisement[1] of the daughter of my people has been greater than the punishment[2] of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and no hands were wrung for her.[3] (Ge 19:25; Mt 10:15; Lu 10:12; 2Pe 2:6; Jud 1:7)7Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, the beauty of their form[4] was like sapphire.[5]8Now their face is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood. (Job 30:30; Ps 119:83; La 5:10)9Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field.10The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people. (De 28:57; 1Ki 3:26; 2Ki 6:29; Isa 49:15; Jer 19:9)11The Lord gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations. (Jer 17:27; Eze 5:13)12The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem. (Isa 52:15; Isa 53:1)13This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous. (Jer 5:31; Jer 23:21; La 2:20)14They wandered, blind, through the streets; they were so defiled with blood that no one was able to touch their garments. (Nu 19:16; Isa 59:10)15“Away! Unclean!” people cried at them. “Away! Away! Do not touch!” So they became fugitives and wanderers; people said among the nations, “They shall stay with us no longer.” (Le 13:45)16The Lord himself[6] has scattered them; he will regard them no more; no honor was shown to the priests, no favor to the elders. (Isa 24:2; La 2:17; La 5:12)17Our eyes failed, ever watching vainly for help; in our watching we watched for a nation which could not save. (Ps 119:82; Ps 119:123; Jer 3:23; Jer 37:7)18They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; our end drew near; our days were numbered, for our end had come. (La 3:52; Eze 7:2; Eze 7:6; Am 8:2)19Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles in the heavens; they chased us on the mountains; they lay in wait for us in the wilderness. (2Sa 1:23; Jer 4:13; Hab 1:8)20The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed, was captured in their pits, of whom we said, “Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.” (Ge 2:7; Jud 9:15; 2Ki 25:5; La 2:9; Eze 12:13; Eze 17:20; Eze 19:4; Eze 19:8; Eze 31:6; Eze 31:17)21Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare. (Job 1:1; Jer 25:15; Jer 25:20; La 1:21)22The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished; he will keep you in exile no longer;[7] but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish; he will uncover your sins. (Isa 40:2; Ob 1:10)