Lamentations 4
1 How dark has the gold become! how changed the best gold! the stones of the holy place are dropping out at the top of every street.
How is dimmed the gold! changed the most fine gold! Poured out are the stones of the sanctuary, at the top of all the streets.
2 The valued sons of Zion, whose price was the best gold, are looked on as vessels of earth, the work of the hands of the potter!
The precious sons of Zion, they who were weighed against pure gold, How are they accounted as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
3 Even the beasts of the waste land have full breasts, they give milk to their young ones: the daughter of my people has become cruel like the ostriches in the waste land.
Even wild dogs, draw out the breast, give suck to their whelps—The daughter of my people, hath become cruel, like the ostriches in the desert.
4 The tongue of the child at the breast is fixed to the roof of his mouth for need of drink: the young children are crying out for bread, and no man gives it to them.
The tongue of the suckling, cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst, —Young children, have asked bread, there was none, to break, it to them.
5 Those who were used to feasting on delicate food are wasted in the streets: those who as children were dressed in purple are stretched out on the dust.
They who used to eat delicacies, are deserted in the streets, —They who used to be carried on crimson, have embraced heaps of refuse.
6 For the punishment of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of Sodom, which was overturned suddenly without any hand falling on her.
And the punishment of the daughter of my people hath grown greater than the punishment of Sodom, —which was overthrown as in a moment, when no hands had been laid violently upon her.
7 Her holy ones were cleaner than snow, they were whiter than milk, their bodies were redder than corals, their form was as the sapphire:
Purer were her Nazirites than snow, whiter were they than milk, —more ruddy, in body, than coral, A sapphire, was their beauty of form.
8 Their face is blacker than night; in the streets no one has knowledge of them: their skin is hanging on their bones, they are dry, they have become like wood.
Darker than a coal, is their visage, They are not known in the streets—Their skin shrivelleth on their bones, is withered, become like a stick.
9 Those who have been put to the sword are better off than those whose death is caused by need of food; for these come to death slowly, burned up like the fruit of the field.
Better are the slain of the sword, than the slain of the famine, —for, these, pine away, stricken through, wanting the produce of the field.
10 The hands of kind-hearted women have been boiling their children; they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of compassionate women, have cooked their own children, —they have served as nourishment to them, in the grievous injury of the daughter of my people.
11 The Lord has given full effect to his passion, he has let loose his burning wrath; he has made a fire in Zion, causing the destruction of its bases.
Yahweh hath completed his indignation, hath poured out the glow of his anger; and hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath devoured her foundations.
12 To the kings of the earth and to all the people of the world it did not seem possible that the attackers and the haters would go into the doors of Jerusalem.
Neither the kings of the earth, nor any of the inhabitants of the world, believed, that an adversary or an enemy, should enter, the gates of Jerusalem!
13 It is because of the sins of her prophets and the evil-doing of her priests, by whom the blood of the upright has been drained out in her.
[It is] for the sins of her prophets, the iniquities of her priests, —who have been pouring out, in her midst, the blood of the righteous!
14 They are wandering like blind men in the streets, they are made unclean with blood, so that their robes may not be touched by men.
They have wandered—blind—in the streets, have defiled themselves with blood; so that men may not touch their garments.
15 Away! unclean! they were crying out to them, Away! away! let there be no touching: when they went away in flight and wandering, men said among the nations, There is no further resting-place for them.
Turn aside! Unclean! have they cried to them, Turn aside! Turn aside! Do not touch! because they have fled, yea, wandered, Men said among the nations, They will not again tarry;
16 The face of the Lord has sent them in all directions; he will no longer take care of them: they had no respect for the priests, they gave no honour to the old men.
The face of Yahweh, hath scattered them, He will look them out no more: The persons of the priests, they have not respected, To the elders, have they shown no favour.
17 Our eyes are still wasting away in looking for our false help: we have been watching for a nation unable to give salvation.
Silly shall our eyes fail, for our help that is vain: In our watchtower, have we watched—for a nation that will not save.
18 They go after our steps so that we may not go in our streets: our end is near, our days are numbered; for our end has come.
They have laid snares for our steps, that we cannot walk in our own broadways: Drawn near hath our end, Fulfilled are our days, yea arrived hath our end.
19 Those who went after us were quicker than the eagles of the heaven, driving us before them on the mountains, waiting secretly for us in the waste land.
Swifter are our pursuers, than the eagles of the heavens, —Over the mountains, have they come hotly after us, In the wilderness, have they lain in wait for us.
20 Our breath of life, he on whom the holy oil was put, was taken in their holes; of whom we said, Under his shade we will be living among the nations.
The fragrance of our nostrils, The Anointed of Yahweh, hath been captured in their pits, —of whom we had said—In his shade, shall we live among the nations.
21 Have joy and be glad, O daughter of Edom, living in the land of Uz: the cup will be given to you in your turn, and you will be overcome with wine and your shame will be seen.
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, thou inhabitress in the and of Uz, —Even unto thee, shall the cup pass along, thou shalt be drunken, and expose thy shame.
22 The punishment of your evil-doing is complete, O daughter of Zion; never again will he take you away as a prisoner: he will give you the reward of your evil-doing, O daughter of Edom; he will let your sin be uncovered.
Completed is thy punishment, O daughter of Zion, He will no more carry thee away captive—He hath punished thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he hath stripped the veil from off thy sins.
