Lamentations 4
1 [Previously our people were like] [MET] pure gold, but now they are worthless. [Like] [MET] the sacred stones in the temple have been scattered, [our young men have been scattered].
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 The young men of Jerusalem were as valuable as [MET] large amounts of gold, but now people consider that they are as worthless as [ordinary] clay pots.
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 the [female] jackals/wolves feed their pups, but my people act cruelly [toward their children]; they are like [SIM] ostriches in the desert [that abandon their eggs].
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 [My people’s] infants’ tongues cling to the roofs/tops of their mouths because they are [extremely] thirsty; the children plead for some food, 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 People who [previously] ate fine food are [now] starving in the streets; those who previously lived luxuriously [MTY] [now] paw/dig through rubbish heaps [to find some food].
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 people of] Sodom were struck with a disaster very suddenly, and there was no one to rescue them; but my people have been punished more severely than [the people of] Sodom were punished.
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 Our leaders’ [behavior] was [previously] very pure, whiter [and brighter] than snow and milk; their bodies were redder than [red] coral/stones; they were very strong and healthy [MET].
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 faces are blacker than soot, and no one recognizes them in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones, and it has become as dry as [SIM] a wooden [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 It is better to die in a battle [MTY] than to die of hunger. There was no food to harvest in the fields, so the people slowly starved until they died.
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 Women who [usually/previously] were very kind have [killed and] cooked their own children; they ate them [when there was no other food], when Jerusalem was surrounded [by enemy soldiers].
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 Yahweh has shown that he was extremely angry; [it is as though] he started/ignited a fire in Jerusalem that burned everything to ashes.
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 None of the kings on the earth or anyone else believed that any of our enemies 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 that is what happened]; it happened because the prophets sinned; and the priests [also] sinned by causing innocent people to be executed [MTY].
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 The prophets and priests wandered through the streets [as though they were] blind. No one would touch them because their clothes were stained with the blood [of people who had been killed].
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 The people [who were alive] shouted, “Stay away [from us] [DOU]! You are defiled/untouchable! Do not touch us!” So the prophets and priests fled [from Israel], and they wandered around from one country to another, because people [in each country] kept saying to them, “You cannot stay here!”
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 It is Yahweh himself who has scattered them; he no longer is concerned about them. People do not respect [our] priests or leaders.
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 We [SYN] continued to look for someone to help [us], but it was useless. We continued to watch to see if one of our allies would save us, but none of the nations that we were waiting for could help [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 [Our] enemies were hunting for us, so we could not [even] walk in our streets [lest they seize us]. We were about to be captured; it was time for us to be killed.
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 pursued us were faster than eagles [flying] in the sky. Even if we fled to the mountains or hid in the desert, they [went there ahead of us and] waited [to attack] us.
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 [Our king, ] whom Yahweh appointed, was the one who enabled us to remain alive [MTY]; he was the one whom we trusted to protect us [IDM] from [the armies of] other nations. But he was [captured] [like animals are] [MET] caught in a pit.
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 You people of [IDM] Edom and Uz, [you may] be happy [about what is happening to us now], but [Yahweh] will be punishing [MTY] you [also]. You will become drunk and will be ashamed [because your enemies] will have stripped off your clothes.
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 You [people of] [APO] Jerusalem, the time of your being punished will end; Yahweh will not allow you to continue to live in (exile/foreign countries). But [you people of] [APO] Edom, Yahweh will punish [you]; he will reveal the wicked things that you have done.
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。
