Lamentations 4
1 How the gold has become tarnished, the pure gold has become dull! The gems of the temple lie scattered on every street corner.
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!
2 How the precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in pure gold, are now esteemed as jars of clay, the work of a potter’s hands!
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!
3 Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like an ostrich in the wilderness.
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!
4 The nursing infant’s tongue clings in thirst to the roof of his mouth. Little children beg for bread, but no one gives them any.
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。
5 Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets; those brought up in crimson huddle in ash heaps.
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。
6 The punishment of the daughter of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in an instant without a hand turned to help her.
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。
7 Her dignitaries were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like sapphires.
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。
8 But now their appearance is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick.
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；
9 Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.
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。
10 The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
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。
11 The LORD has exhausted His wrath; He has poured out His fierce anger; He has kindled a fire in Zion, and it has consumed her foundations.
上主大發震怒，傾洩了他的怒火，火燒熙雍，焚毀了他的基礎。
12 The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any people of the world, that an enemy or a foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
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。
13 But this was for the sins of her prophets and the guilt of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous in her midst.
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；
14 They wandered blind in the streets, defiled by this blood, so that no one dared to touch their garments.
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。「
15 “Go away! Unclean!” men shouted at them. “Away, away! Do not touch us!” So they fled and wandered. Among the nations it was said, “They can stay here no longer.”
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。」
16 The presence of the LORD has scattered them; He regards them no more. The priests are shown no honor; the elders find no favor.
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。
17 All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us.
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。
18 They stalked our every step, so that we could not walk in our streets. Our end drew near, our time ran out, for our end had come!
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。
19 Those who chased us were swifter than the eagles in the sky; they pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.
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。
20 The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”
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。
21 So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.
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。
22 O Daughter of Zion, your punishment is complete; He will not prolong your exile. But He will punish your iniquity, O Daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins.
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。
