< Lamentations 4 >
1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! The hallowed stones are cast forth at the head of every street.
2 The noble sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
3 The very jackals reach forth the breast; they suckle their young; But the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches of the desert.
4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst; Young children ask for bread, and no man breaketh it for them.
5 Those that fed on dainties are desolate in the streets; Those that have been brought up in scarlet embrace the dunghill.
6 The punishment of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of Sodom, Which was overthrown in a moment, though no hands came against her.
7 Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; More ruddy than coral was their body; Their visage was of sapphire.
8 Now darker than a coal is their countenance; they are not known in the streets. Their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is become dry, like wood.
9 More fortunate are the slain by the sword than the slain by famine; For these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of tender-hearted women cooked their own children; They were their food, in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 Jehovah hath spent upon them his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger; He hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath devoured its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth believed not, nor all the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary would enter, and the enemy, within the gates of Jerusalem.
13 It was on account of the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, Who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous.
14 They stumbled like blind men through the streets, polluted with blood, So that men could not touch their garments.
15 “Depart! unclean!” men cried to them. “Depart, depart, touch not!” As they fled, they stumbled; men said among the nations, “They shall dwell there no more.”
16 The anger of Jehovah hath scattered them; he will no more care for them; They paid no regard to the priests, they had no compassion for the elders.
17 Still did our eyes fail, looking for help in vain; On our watch-tower did we watch for a nation that could not save us.
18 They laid snares for our steps, so that we could not go in our streets; Our end is near; our days are accomplished, yea, our end is come!
19 Swifter were our pursuers than the eagles of heaven; They chased us upon the mountains; they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits, Under whose shadow we said that we should live among the nations.
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz! Yet to thee also shall the cup come! thou shalt be drunken, and shalt expose thy nakedness.
22 Thy punishment is at an end, O daughter of Zion! no more will he carry thee into captivity; But thine iniquity will he punish, O daughter of Edom! he will uncover thy sins.
