Lamentations 4

¹How the gold has lost its luster,

the fine gold become dull!

The sacred gems are scattered

at every street corner.

²How the precious children of Zion,

once worth their weight in gold,

are now considered as pots of clay,

the work of a potter’s hands!

³Even jackals offer their breasts

to nurse their young,

but my people have become heartless

like ostriches in the desert.

⁴Because of thirst the infant’s tongue

sticks to the roof of its mouth;

the children beg for bread,

but no one gives it to them.

⁵Those who once ate delicacies

are destitute in the streets.

Those brought up in royal purple

now lie on ash heaps.

⁶The punishment of my people

is greater than that of Sodom,

which was overthrown in a moment

without a hand turned to help her.

⁷Their princes were brighter than snow

and whiter than milk,

their bodies more ruddy than rubies,

their appearance like lapis lazuli.

⁸But now they are blacker than soot;

they are not recognized in the streets.

Their skin has shriveled on their bones;

it has become as dry as a stick.

⁹Those killed by the sword are better off

than those who die of famine;

racked with hunger, they waste away

for lack of food from the field.

¹⁰With their own hands compassionate women

have cooked their own children,

who became their food

when my people were destroyed.

¹¹The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;

he has poured out his fierce anger.

He kindled a fire in Zion

that consumed her foundations.

¹²The kings of the earth did not believe,

nor did any of the peoples of the world,

that enemies and foes could enter

the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³But it happened because of the sins of her prophets

and the iniquities of her priests,

who shed within her

the blood of the righteous.

¹⁴Now they grope through the streets

as if they were blind.

They are so defiled with blood

that no one dares to touch their garments.

¹⁵“Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them.

“Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”

When they flee and wander about,

people among the nations say,

“They can stay here no longer.”

¹⁶The Lord himself has scattered them;

he no longer watches over them.

The priests are shown no honor,

the elders no favor.

¹⁷Moreover, our eyes failed,

looking in vain for help;

from our towers we watched

for a nation that could not save us.

¹⁸People stalked us at every step,

so we could not walk in our streets.

Our end was near, our days were numbered,

for our end had come.

¹⁹Our pursuers were swifter

than eagles in the sky;

they chased us over the mountains

and lay in wait for us in the desert.

²⁰The Lord’s anointed, our very life breath,

was caught in their traps.

We thought that under his shadow

we would live among the nations.

²¹Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,

you who live in the land of Uz.

But to you also the cup will be passed;

you will be drunk and stripped naked.

²²Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion;

he will not prolong your exile.

But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom,

and expose your wickedness.