< Ratapan 4 >
1 Emas yang berkilauan telah menjadi suram batu-batu Rumah Allah bertebaran di jalan.
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 Dahulu para remaja Kota Sion seperti emas yang berharga, tapi kini diperlakukan seperti bejana tanah belaka.
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 Sedangkan induk serigala menyusukan anaknya, tapi umatku sangat kejam seperti burung unta di padang.
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 Bayi-bayi tak disusui, sehingga mati kehausan. Anak-anak minta makan, tapi tak ada yang memberikan.
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 Mereka yang biasa menikmati makanan yang enak-enak, dan hidup dalam kemewahan, kini merangkak mencari makanan di timbunan sampah, dan mati kelaparan di jalan-jalan.
Those that fed on dainties are desolate in the streets; Those that have been brought up in scarlet embrace the dunghill.
6 Umatku telah dihukum lebih berat dari penduduk Sodom yang dalam sekejap mata hancur oleh tangan Allah tanpa tindakan manusia.
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 Dahulu pemimpin-pemimpin kami murni seperti kapas yang putih bersih. Mereka tegap dan kuat, segar bugar dan sehat.
Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; More ruddy than coral was their body; Their visage was of sapphire.
8 Tapi kini wajah mereka lebih hitam dari jelaga terkapar di jalan-jalan tanpa ada yang dapat mengenali mereka. Kulit mereka berkerut pada tulang-tulang, seperti kayu yang kering kerontang.
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 Mereka sengsara dan mati perlahan-lahan, karena sama sekali tak punya makanan; yang mati di medan pertempuran, lebih beruntung dari yang mati kelaparan.
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 Sangat dahsyat bencana itu yang menimpa umatku sehingga ibu-ibu yang berhati lembut merebus anak sendiri untuk pengisi perut.
The hands of tender-hearted women cooked their own children; They were their food, in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 TUHAN melampiaskan amarah-Nya dan membakar Kota Sion sampai rata dengan tanah.
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 Di antara raja-raja dan penduduk dunia tidak satu pun yang percaya bahwa gerbang-gerbang kota Yerusalem dapat dimasuki oleh lawan.
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 Tapi hal itu telah terjadi, karena dosa para imam dan nabi. Mereka telah menumpahkan darah, dari orang yang tidak bersalah.
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 Seperti orang buta mengembara di jalan-jalan begitulah pemimpin-pemimpin kota Yerusalem. Pakaian mereka kotor oleh darah sehingga tak ada yang mau menyentuh mereka.
They stumbled like blind men through the streets, polluted with blood, So that men could not touch their garments.
15 Orang berkata, "Pergi dari sini! Kamu najis, jangan menjamah kami!" Maka pergilah mereka dan mengembara dari bangsa ke bangsa, tapi tidak diizinkan menetap oleh siapa pun juga.
“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 TUHAN tak lagi memperhatikan umat-Nya; Ia sendiri yang menceraiberaikan mereka dan membuat imam-imam tak lagi dihargai; para pemimpin tiada yang mengasihani.
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 Mata kami lelah memandang, menantikan bantuan yang tak kunjung datang. Kami mengharapkan pertolongan suatu bangsa, yang sebenarnya tak dapat memberikan apa-apa.
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 Kami tak dapat keluar ke jalan, keluar selalu diintai lawan. Akhir hidup kami mendekat, karena hari-hari kami sudah genap.
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 Pengejar-pengejar kami cepat sekali jauh lebih cepat dari burung rajawali. Mereka mengejar kami di gunung, dan menghadang kami di padang gurun.
Swifter were our pursuers than the eagles of heaven; They chased us upon the mountains; they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
20 Mereka menangkap raja pilihan TUHAN, orang yang kami andalkan sebagai pemberi kehidupan, dan pelindung terhadap lawan.
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 Hai bangsa Edom dan Us, silakan tertawa, bergembiralah, selama masih bisa! Bencana akan datang juga kepadamu dan karena mabuk engkau akan menelanjangi dirimu.
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 Sion telah menjalani hukumannya atas dosa-dosa yang diperbuatnya; kini kami tidak akan dibiarkan TUHAN dan tak akan dibawa lagi ke dalam pembuangan. Tetapi engkau, hai Edom, akan dihukum TUHAN. Dosa-dosamu akan disingkapkan.
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.