Lamentations
4
- How the gold has lost its luster, the fine
gold become dull! The sacred gems are scattered at the head of every street.
- How the precious sons of Zion, 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.
- Because 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.
- Those who once ate delicacies are destitute
in the streets. Those nurtured in purple now lie on ash heaps.
- The punishment of my people is greater than
that of Sodom, 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
sapphires.
- But 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.
- Those 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.
- With their own hands compassionate women
have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were
destroyed.
- The 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.
- The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the world's people, that enemies and foes could enter the gates
of Jerusalem.
- But it happened because of the sins of her
prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood
of the righteous.
- Now they grope through the streets like
men who are blind. They are so defiled with blood that no one dares to touch
their garments.
- "Go away! You are unclean!" men
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."
- The LORD himself has scattered them; he
no longer watches over them. The priests are shown no honor, the elders no
favor.
- Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain
for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us.
- Men 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.
- Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in
the sky; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert.
- The LORD'S anointed, our very life breath,
was caught in their traps. We thought that under his shadow we would live
among the nations.
- Rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of 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.
- O Daughter of Zion, your punishment will
end; he will not prolong your exile. But, O Daughter of Edom, he will punish
your sin and expose your wickedness.
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