| 1 | How the gold has become dim! How the most pure gold has changed! The hallowed stones [of the temple] are poured out at the head of every street. |
| 2 | The noble
and
precious sons of Zion, [once] worth their weight in fine gold—how they are esteemed [merely] as earthen pots
or
pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! |
| 3 | Even the jackals draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones, but the daughter of my people has become cruel like ostriches in the wilderness [that desert their young]. |
| 4 | The tongue of the nursing babe cleaves to the roof of its mouth because of thirst; the young children beg for food, but no one gives it to them. |
| 5 | Those who feasted on dainties are perishing in the streets; those who were brought up in purple lie cleaving to refuse
and
ash heaps. |
| 6 | For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and no hands had come against her
or
been laid on her. |
| 7 | [In physical appearance] her princes were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; they were more ruddy in body than rubies
or
corals, their shapely figures [suggested a carefully cut] sapphire. |
| 8 | [Prolonged famine has made] them look blacker than soot and darkness; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones; it is withered and it has become [dry] like a stick. |
| 9 | Those who are slain with the sword are more fortunate than those who are the victims of hunger [slain by the famine]; for they [the hungry] pine
and
ebb away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. |
| 10 | The hands of [heretofore] compassionate women have boiled their own children; they were their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people [Judah]. |
| 11 | The Lord has fulfilled His wrath; He has poured out His fierce anger and has kindled a fire in Zion that has consumed her foundations. |
| 12 | The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the inhabitants of the earth, that the oppressor and enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem. |
| 13 | [But this happened] because of the sins of her [false] prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed the blood of the just
and
righteous in the midst of her. |
| 14 | [The false prophets and priests] wandered [staggering] in the streets as if blind; they had so polluted themselves with blood it was not [lawful] for men to touch their garments. |
| 15 | [People] cried to them, Go away! Unclean! Depart! Depart! Touch not! When they fled away, then they wandered [as fugitives]; men said among the nations, They shall not stay here any longer. |
| 16 | The anger of the Lord has scattered [and divided them among the nations]; He will no longer look after them. They did not respect the persons of the priests; they did not favor the elders. |
| 17 | As for us, our eyes yet failed
and
wasted away in looking for our worthless help. In our watching [on our watchtower] we have watched
and
waited expectantly for a nation [Egypt or some other one to come to our rescue] that could not save us. |
| 18 | [The missiles of the enemy] dog our steps, so that we cannot go into our streets; our end is near, our days are fulfilled—yes, our end has come. |
| 19 | Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky; they pursued us on the mountains, they lay in wait for us in the wilderness. |
| 20 | The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord [our king], was taken in their snares—he of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations. |
| 21 | Rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. But the cup [of the wine of God’s wrath] also shall pass to you; you shall become drunk and make yourself naked. |
| 22 | The punishment of your iniquity will be accomplished
and
completed, O Daughter of Zion; [the Lord] will no more carry you away
or
keep you in exile. But He will inspect
and
punish your iniquity
and
guilt, O Daughter of Edom; He will uncover your sins. |
Cross references:
-
Lamentations 4:2 : Isa. 30:14; Jer. 19:11; II Cor. 4:7.
-
Lamentations 4:6 : Gen. 19:25.
-
Lamentations 4:17 : Ezek. 29:16.
-
Lamentations 4:21 : Jer. 25:17.
-
Lamentations 4:22 : Ps. 137:7.
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