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.
Quomodo obscuratum est aurum, mutatus est color optimus! dispersi sunt lapides sanctuarii in capite omnium platearum!
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!
Filii Sion inclyti, et amicti auro primo: quomodo reputati sunt in vasa testea, opus manuum figuli!
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.
Sed et lamiæ nudaverunt mammam, lactaverunt catulos suos: filia populi mei crudelis quasi struthio in deserto.
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.
Adhæsit lingua lactentis ad palatum ejus in siti; parvuli petierunt panem, et non erat qui frangeret eis.
5 Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets; those brought up in crimson huddle in ash heaps.
Qui vescebantur voluptuose, interierunt in viis; qui nutriebantur in croceis, amplexati sunt stercora.
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.
Et major effecta est iniquitas filiæ populi mei peccato Sodomorum, quæ subversa est in momento, et non ceperunt in ea manus.
7 Her dignitaries were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like sapphires.
Candidiores Nazaræi ejus nive, nitidiores lacte, rubicundiores ebore antiquo, sapphiro pulchriores.
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.
Denigrata est super carbones facies eorum et non sunt cogniti in plateis; adhæsit cutis eorum ossibus: aruit, et facta est quasi lignum.
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.
Melius fuit occisis gladio quam interfectis fame, quoniam isti extabuerunt consumpti a sterilitate terræ.
10 The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Manus mulierum misericordium coxerunt filios suos; facti sunt cibus earum in contritione filiæ populi mei.
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.
Complevit Dominus furorem suum, effudit iram indignationis suæ: et succendit ignem in Sion, et devoravit fundamenta ejus.
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.
Non crediderunt reges terræ, et universi habitatores orbis, quoniam ingrederetur hostis et inimicus per portas Jerusalem.
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.
Propter peccata prophetarum ejus, et iniquitates sacerdotum ejus, qui effuderunt in medio ejus sanguinem justorum.
14 They wandered blind in the streets, defiled by this blood, so that no one dared to touch their garments.
Erraverunt cæci in plateis, polluti sunt in sanguine; cumque non possent, tenuerunt lacinias suas.
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.”
Recedite polluti, clamaverunt eis; recedite, abite, nolite tangere: jurgati quippe sunt, et commoti dixerunt inter gentes: Non addet ultra ut habitet in eis.
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.
Facies Domini divisit eos, non addet ut respiciat eos; facies sacerdotum non erubuerunt, neque senum miserti sunt.
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.
Cum adhuc subsisteremus, defecerunt oculi nostri ad auxilium nostrum vanum; cum respiceremus attenti ad gentem quæ salvare non poterat.
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!
Lubricaverunt vestigia nostra in itinere platearum nostrarum; appropinquavit finis noster, completi sunt dies nostri, quia venit finis noster.
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.
Velociores fuerunt persecutores nostri aquilis cæli; super montes persecuti sunt nos, in deserto insidiati sunt nobis.
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.”
Spiritus oris nostri, christus Dominus, captus est in peccatis nostris, cui diximus: In umbra tua vivemus in gentibus.
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.
Gaude et lætare, filia Edom, quæ habitas in terra Hus! ad te quoque perveniet calix: inebriaberis, atque nudaberis.
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.
Completa est iniquitas tua, filia Sion: non addet ultra ut transmigret te. Visitavit iniquitatem tuam, filia Edom; discooperuit peccata tua.
