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How the finest gold has lost its luster! For the inlaid[a] Temple walls are scattered in the streets! The cream of our youth—the finest of the gold—are treated as earthenware pots. 3-4 Even the jackals feed their young, but not my people, Israel. They are like cruel desert ostriches, heedless of their babies’ cries. The children’s tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths for thirst, for there is not a drop of water left. Babies cry for bread, but no one can give them any. Those who used to eat fastidiously are begging in the streets for anything at all. Those brought up in palaces now scratch in garbage pits for food. For the sin of my people is greater than that of Sodom, where utter disaster struck in a moment without the hand of man.

Our princes were lean and tanned,[b] the finest specimens of men; but now their faces are as black as soot. No one can recognize them. Their skin sticks to their bones; it is dry and hard and withered. Those killed by the sword are far better off than those who die of slow starvation. 10 Tenderhearted women have cooked and eaten their own children; thus they survived the siege.

11 But now at last the anger of the Lord is satisfied; his fiercest anger has been poured out. He started a fire in Jerusalem that burned it down to its foundations. 12 Not a king in all the earth—no one in all the world—would have believed an enemy could enter through Jerusalem’s gates! 13 Yet God permitted it because of the sins of her prophets and priests, who defiled the city by shedding innocent blood. 14 Now these same men are blindly staggering through the streets, covered with blood, defiling everything they touch.

15 “Get away!” the people shout at them. “You are defiled!” They flee to distant lands and wander there among the foreigners; but none will let them stay. 16 The Lord himself has dealt with them; he no longer helps them, for they persecuted the priests and elders who stayed true to God.

17 We look for our allies[c] to come and save us, but we look in vain. The nation we expected most to help us makes no move at all.

18 We can’t go into the streets without danger to our lives. Our end is near—our days are numbered. We are doomed. 19 Our enemies are swifter than the eagles; if we flee to the mountains, they find us. If we hide in the wilderness, they are waiting for us there. 20 Our king—the life of our life, the Lord’s anointed—was captured in their snares. Yes, even our mighty king, about whom we had boasted that under his protection we could hold our own against any nation on earth!

21 Do you rejoice, O people of Edom, in the land of Uz? But you, too, will feel the awful anger of the Lord. 22 Israel’s exile for her sins will end at last, but Edom’s never.

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 4:1 inlaid, implied.
  2. Lamentations 4:7 were lean and tanned, literally, “were purer than snow, whiter than milk, more ruddy than rubies, polished like sapphires.”
  3. Lamentations 4:17 allies, probably the reference is to Egypt.

[a]How the gold has lost its luster,
    the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
    at every street corner.(A)

How the precious children of Zion,(B)
    once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
    the work of a potter’s hands!

Even jackals offer their breasts
    to nurse their young,
but my people have become heartless
    like ostriches in the desert.(C)

Because of thirst(D) the infant’s tongue
    sticks to the roof of its mouth;(E)
the children beg for bread,
    but no one gives it to them.(F)

Those who once ate delicacies
    are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple(G)
    now lie on ash heaps.(H)

The punishment of my people
    is greater than that of Sodom,(I)
which was overthrown in a moment
    without a hand turned to help her.

Their princes were brighter than snow
    and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
    their appearance like lapis lazuli.

But now they are blacker(J) than soot;
    they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;(K)
    it has become as dry as a stick.

Those killed by the sword are better off
    than those who die of famine;(L)
racked with hunger, they waste away
    for lack of food from the field.(M)

10 With their own hands compassionate women
    have cooked their own children,(N)
who became their food
    when my people were destroyed.

11 The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;(O)
    he has poured out(P) his fierce anger.(Q)
He kindled a fire(R) in Zion
    that consumed her foundations.(S)

12 The 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.(T)

13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets
    and the iniquities of her priests,(U)
who shed within her
    the blood(V) of the righteous.

14 Now they grope through the streets
    as if they were blind.(W)
They are so defiled with blood(X)
    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(Y) about,
    people among the nations say,
    “They can stay here no longer.”(Z)

16 The Lord himself has scattered them;
    he no longer watches over them.(AA)
The priests are shown no honor,
    the elders(AB) no favor.(AC)

17 Moreover, our eyes failed,
    looking in vain(AD) for help;(AE)
from our towers we watched
    for a nation(AF) that could not save us.

18 People 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.(AG)

19 Our pursuers were swifter
    than eagles(AH) in the sky;
they chased us(AI) over the mountains
    and lay in wait for us in the desert.(AJ)

20 The Lord’s anointed,(AK) our very life breath,
    was caught in their traps.(AL)
We thought that under his shadow(AM)
    we would live among the nations.

21 Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,
    you who live in the land of Uz.(AN)
But to you also the cup(AO) will be passed;
    you will be drunk and stripped naked.(AP)

22 Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion;(AQ)
    he will not prolong your exile.
But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom,
    and expose your wickedness.(AR)

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.