耶利米哀歌 4
1 怎麼! 黃金竟暗淡無光，純金竟變了色! 聖所的石頭都散亂在街頭!
How the gold has become dim! The most pure gold has changed! The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street.
2 熙雍的子女，原比純金尊貴，怎麼現在竟被看作瓦器，被看作陶人的出品!
The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how they are esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
3 豺狼尚且露出乳房，哺養自己的幼兒；我的女兒──人民，竟然殘暴不仁，好似曠野中的鴕鳥!
Even the jackals offer their breast. They nurse their young ones. But the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 嬰兒的舌頭，乾渴得緊貼上顎；幼童飢餓求食，卻無人分給他們。
The tongue of the nursing child clings to the roof of his mouth for thirst. The young children ask for bread, and no one breaks it for them.
5 昔日飽享山珍海味，今日竟餓死街頭；一向衣飾華麗，而今卻滿身糞土。
Those who ate delicacies are desolate in the streets. Those who were brought up in purple embrace dunghills.
6 我的女兒──人民的罪罰，比索多瑪的還重，索多瑪頃刻間傾覆了，並非假手於人。
For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown as in a moment. No hands were laid on her.
7 昔日，她的少年，比雪還潔白，比乳還皎潔；他們的皮膚，比珊瑚還紅潤，他們的身體好似一片青玉。
Her Nazirites were purer than snow. They were whiter than milk. They were more ruddy in body than rubies. Their polishing was like sapphire.
8 而今，他們的容貌，比炭還黑，在街上已辨認不出，皮包骨頭，枯瘦如柴；
Their appearance is blacker than a coal. They are not known in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones. It is withered. It has become like wood.
9 死於刀下的，比死於饑餓的，即因缺乏田產，日漸衰弱而死的，更為幸運。
Those who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through, for lack of the fruits of the field.
10 柔情的婦女竟要親手烹食自己的子女；在我的女兒──人民遭受浩劫時，子女竟成了母親的食物。
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children. They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 上主大發震怒，傾洩了他的怒火，火燒熙雍，焚毀了他的基礎。
The LORD has accomplished his wrath. He has poured out his fierce anger. He has kindled a fire in Zion, which has devoured its foundations.
12 地上的君王和世上的居民，誰也不相信：仇敵能進入耶路撒冷的城門。
The kings of the earth didn’t believe, neither did all the inhabitants of the world, that the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.
13 這是由於她先知們的罪惡，和她司祭們的過犯：他們在城中心，傾流了義人的血；
It is because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the middle of her.
14 他們身染血污，像瞎子一樣，徘徊街頭，叫人不能觸摸他們的衣服。「
They wander as blind men in the streets. They are polluted with blood, So that men can’t touch their garments.
15 不潔! 退避! 」人們喊說：「退避! 不可接近! 」如果他們逃亡，漂流異邦，異邦人又說：「不要讓他們留居此地。」
“Go away!” they cried to them. “Unclean! Go away! Go away! Don’t touch! When they fled away and wandered, men said amongst the nations, “They can’t live here any more.”
16 上主的怒容驅散他們，不再垂顧他們；人也不再尊敬司祭，不再敬重長老。
The LORD’s anger has scattered them. He will not pay attention to them any more. They didn’t respect the persons of the priests. They didn’t favour the elders.
17 我們還在望眼欲穿，幻想著我們的救援；我們仍在瞭望台上，期望著那不能施救的異邦。
Our eyes still fail, looking in vain for our help. In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.
18 敵人正在追蹤我們的足跡，阻止我們在街上行走；我們的結局已近，我們的日子已滿；的確，我們的終期已到。
They hunt our steps, so that we can’t go in our streets. Our end is near. Our days are fulfilled, for our end has come.
19 追捕我們的人，比凌空的飛鳥還要快速；他們在山上搜索我們，在曠野裏窺伺我們。
Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky. They chased us on the mountains. They set an ambush for us in the wilderness.
20 連我們的氣息──上主的受傅者，也落在他們的陷阱中：我們原希望在他的福蔭下，生活在異邦人中。
The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits; of whom we said, under his shadow we will live amongst the nations.
21 住在胡茲地的厄東女郎! 你歡欣喜樂罷! 苦爵也要輪到你喝，你將要醉倒，而赤身裸體。
Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, who dwells in the land of Uz. The cup will pass through to you also. You will be drunken, and will make yourself naked.
22 熙雍女郎! 你的罪債已經償還，上主不再使你流徙；厄東女郎! 他必要懲罰你的過犯，揭露你的罪惡。
The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, daughter of Zion. He will no more carry you away into captivity. He will visit your iniquity, daughter of Edom. He will uncover your sins.
