Lamentations 4

¹ How the gold has lost its shine,
how the fine gold has changed!
The sacred stones lie scattered
at the corner of every street.

² The precious children of Zion,
once valued as fine gold—
how they are regarded as clay pots,
the work of a potter's hands!

³ Even jackals offer their breasts
and nurse their young,
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
like ostriches in the wilderness.

⁴ The nursing infant's tongue
clings to the roof of its mouth from thirst.
Small children beg for bread,
but no one breaks any for them.

⁵ Those who once feasted on delicacies
waste away in the streets.
Those raised in purple garments
now embrace ash heaps.

⁶ The punishment of the daughter of my people
is greater than the penalty of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment
without a hand turned to help her.

⁷ Her princes were purer than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies more ruddy than coral,
their appearance like lapis lazuli.

⁸ But now their appearance is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin clings to their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.

⁹ Those killed by the sword are better off
than those killed by famine,
who waste away, pierced through,
for lack of the fruits of the field.

¹⁰ The hands of compassionate women
have boiled their own children;
they became their food
in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

¹¹ The LORD has exhausted his wrath;
he has poured out his fierce anger.
He kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed her foundations.

¹² The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the world's inhabitants,
that an enemy or foe could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³ It happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the crimes of her priests,
who shed the blood of the righteous
within her walls.

¹⁴ They wandered blind through the streets,
so defiled with blood
that no one was able
to touch their garments.

¹⁵ "Get away! Unclean!" people shouted at them.
"Get away! Get away! Don't touch!"
So they fled and wandered about.
Among the nations it was said,
"They can stay here no longer."

¹⁶ The LORD himself has scattered them;
he no longer watches over them.
No one shows respect to the priests
or favor to the elders.

¹⁷ Our eyes still failed,
watching in vain for help.
From our towers we watched
for a nation that could not save us.

¹⁸ They stalked our every step
so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end drew near, our days were numbered,
for our end had come.

¹⁹ Our pursuers were swifter
than eagles in the sky.
They chased us over the mountains
and ambushed us in the wilderness.

²⁰ The LORD's anointed, the breath of our life,
was caught in their traps—
the one of whom we said, "Under his shadow
we will live among the nations."

²¹ Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,
you who dwell in the land of Uz.
But to you also the cup will be passed;
you will get drunk and strip yourself bare.

²² Your punishment is complete, Daughter Zion;
he will not prolong your exile.
But your guilt, Daughter Edom, he will punish;
he will expose your sins.