< Lamentations 4 >

1 How gold has tarnished! Even pure gold has lost its shine! Jewels from the Temple have been scattered on every street corner.
Kawbangmaw sui amphahaih to duek ving moe, kaciim suitui loe amkhraih ving! Hmuenciim ih thlungnawk loe lamkrung kruekah anghaeh o phang boeh.
2 Look at how the precious people of Zion, worth their weight in gold, are now valued like cheap clay jars made by a potter!
Kaciim suitui hoi patah o ih, atho kana Zion capanawk loe kawbangmaw laom sahkung mah sak ih amlai long baktiah oh o sut halat!
3 Even jackals nurse their young at their breasts, but the women of my people have become cruel, like an ostrich in the desert.
Tasuinawk mataeng doeh a caanawk tahnu panaek o moe, pacah o bae; kai kaminawk ih canu loe hmawhsaeng praezaek ih tahnongsawk tavaa baktiah hmawhsaeng o.
4 The nursing babies are so thirsty that their tongues stick to the roof of their mouths. Little children beg for food, but nobody gives them anything.
Tahnu anghaeh loiah nawktanawk ih palai loe pakha ranui ah akap caeng boeh; nawktanawk mah takaw hnik o naah, mi mah doeh paek o ai.
5 Those who used to eat gourmet food now die starving in the streets. Those who dressed in fine clothes from their childhood now live in heaps of rubbish.
Buh aan kahoih caa kaminawk loe abuephaih tawn o ai; kamling kahni nuiah qoeng tahang kaminawk doeh, vaihi loe maiphu thungah ni angsong o boeh.
6 Jerusalem's punishment is worse than sinful Sodom's, which was destroyed in a brief moment, without the help of human hands.
Zaehaih pongah kai ih kaminawk thuitaekhaih loe Sodom zae thuitaekhaih pongah doeh nat kue, mi mah doeh abomh ai ah, nawnetta thungah amro boih boeh.
7 Her leaders were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were a healthier red than coral, and they shone like lapis lazuli.
Anih ih Nazaret kaminawk loe dantui pongah ciim o kue moe, tahnutui pongah doeh anglung o kue; a taksa loe thlung kamling pongah thim kue moe, krang doeh sapphire thlung pongah hoih o kue.
8 But now they look blacker than soot; no one recognizes them in the street. Their skin has shrunk to their bones and is as dry as wood.
Vaihi nihcae krang amtuenghaih loe khoving pongah amnum o kue moe, loklam ah a caeh o naah doeh angmaat thai ai boeh; nihcae ih nganhin loe ahuh hoi angbet kang moe, cunghet baktiah, zaek o kaeng boeh.
9 Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who slowly waste away in agony because the fields produce no crops.
Sumsen hoi dueh kaminawk loe khokhahaih hoi dueh kaminawk pongah hoih o kue; khokha hoi dueh kami loe lawk ih thingthai qumpo to caa ai pongah, zaek o kaeng.
10 The hands of loving women have cooked their own children to eat during the destruction of Jerusalem.
Vangpui thung ih nongpatanawk loe tahmen thoh parai; angmacae ih caanawk to thongh moe, a caak o; kai kaminawk ih canu amrohaih niah loe angmacae ih caa mataeng doeh buh ah a caak o.
11 The Lord has given full expression to his anger. He has poured out his fury. He has started a fire in Zion, and it has burned down her very foundations.
Angraeng mah palung a phuihaih to koepsak boeh; kanung parai palungphuihaih to a kraih thuih; Zion to hmai hoiah a thlaek pongah, thlung hoi raemh ih hmuennawk to kangh boih boeh.
12 No king on earth—in fact nobody in all the world—thought that an enemy or attacker could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
Misa hoi misatuh kaminawk loe Jerusalem khongkha thungah akun o boeh, tiah long siangpahrangnawk hoi long kaminawk mah tang o ai.
13 But this happened because of the sins of her prophets and the wickedness of her priests, who shed the blood of the innocent right there in the city.
Tahmaanawk zaehaih, qaimanawk sakpazaehaih pongah, vangpui thungah katoeng kaminawk ih athii to palong o.
14 They wandered like blind men through the streets, made unclean by this blood, so no one would touch their clothes.
Nihcae loe vaihi mikmaeng baktiah loklam ah amhet o; kami ih athii angnok o pongah, mi mah doeh nihcae ih khukbuen to sui mak ai.
15 “Go away! You're unclean!” people would shout at them, “Go away, go away! Don't touch us!” So they ran away and wandered from country to country, but the people there told them, “You can't stay here!”
Toe nihcae mah, Kalah bangah caeh oh, ciimcai ai kaminawk, caeh oh, caeh oh, sui o hmah, tiah ang hang o thuih lat; toe nihcae loe ahmuen kangthla ah cawnh o moe, ahmuen kruekah amhet o naah loe, Sithaw panoek ai kaminawk mah nihcae khaeah, Nangcae loe haeah na om o thai mak ai, tiah a naa o.
16 The Lord himself has scattered them; he doesn't bother with them anymore. Nobody respects the priests, and nobody admires the leaders.
Angraeng palungphuihaih mah vah phaeng boeh pongah, nihcae to dawncang ai boeh; kaminawk mah qaimanawk to khingza o ai boeh; kacoehtanawk doeh azathaih paek o ai boeh.
17 We wore out our eyes pointlessly looking for help the whole time; we watched from our towers for a nation to come that couldn't save us.
Bomkung to ka pakrong o e, ka hnu o ai; kaicae pahlong thai ai acaeng kaminawk to ka zing o lat.
18 The enemy tracked our every movement so we couldn't walk through our streets. Our end approached. Our time was up because our end had come.
Ka misanawk mah kaicae ih khokkong to parui, to pongah loklam ah ka caeh o thai ai; kaicae boenghaih loe zoi boeh; kaicae ih aninawk loe akoep boeh; kaicae boenghaih to phak boeh.
19 Our pursuers were faster than eagles in the sky. They chased us across the mountains and ambushed us in the desert.
Kaicae patom kaminawk loe van ih tahmunawk pongah doeh rang o kue; nihcae mah mae nui khoek to ang patom o, praezaek ah doeh ang maah o.
20 The king, the Lord's anointed, our country's “life-breath,” was trapped and captured by them. We had said about him, “Under his protection we will live among the nations.”
Kaicae anghahhaih takhi ah kaom Angraeng mah situi nok ih zaehoikung mah, Sithaw panoek ai kaminawk salakah kamongah na omsak tih, tiah ka poek o, toe anih to misanawk ih qumqaihaih thungah naeh o ving boeh.
21 Celebrate and be happy while you can, people of Edom, you who live in the land of Uz, because this cup will be passed to you too. You will get drunk and strip yourself naked.
Uz prae ah kaom, Aw Edom canu, anghoe oh loe, oep oh; boengloeng loe nangcae khaeah doeh pha tih; to naah loe na paquih o ueloe, bangkrai ah na om o tih.
22 People of Zion, your punishment is coming to an end—he won't continue your exile for long. But he is going to punish your sins, people of Edom; he will reveal your sins.
Aw Zion canu, na zaehaih pongah thuitaekhaih loe boeng boeh; anih mah misong ah na hoi let mak ai boeh; Aw Edom canu, anih loe na zaehaih thuitaek hanah angzo tih, to naah na zaehaih to amtuengsak tih.

< Lamentations 4 >