Lamentations 4:7-9

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁷ Her princes were purer than snow,
    whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
    the beauty of their form^[a] was like sapphire.^[b]

⁸ Now their visage is blacker than soot,
    they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled upon their bones,
    it has become as dry as wood.

⁹ Happier were the victims of the sword
    than the victims of hunger,
who pined away, stricken
    by want of the fruits of the field.