Lam4:1 How dark the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out At the corner of every street.
Lam4:2 The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they are regarded as earthen jars, The work of a potter's hands!
Lam4:3 Even jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; [But] the daughter of my people has become cruel Like ostriches in the wilderness.
Lam4:4 The tongue of the infant cleaves To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The little ones ask for bread, [But] no one breaks [it] for them.
Lam4:5 Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those reared in purple Embrace ash pits.
Lam4:6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown as in a moment, And no hands were turned toward her.
Lam4:7 Her consecrated ones were purer than snow, They were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy [in] body than corals, Their polishing [was] like lapis lazuli.
Lam4:8 Their appearance is blacker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin is shriveled on their bones, It is withered, it has become like wood.
Lam4:9 Better are those slain with the sword Than those slain with hunger; For they pine away, being stricken For lack of the fruits of the field.
Lam4:10 The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Lam4:11 The LORD has accomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion Which has consumed its foundations.
Lam4:12 The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor [did] any of the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
Lam4:13 Because of the sins of her prophets [And] the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the righteous,
Lam4:14 They wandered, blind, in the streets; They were defiled with blood So that no one could touch their garments.
Lam4:15 "Depart! Unclean!" they cried of themselves. "Depart, depart, do not touch!" So they fled and wandered; [Men] among the nations said, "They shall not continue to dwell [with us]."
Lam4:16 The presence of the LORD has scattered them; He will not continue to regard them. They did not honor the priests, They did not favor the elders.
Lam4:17 Yet our eyes failed; [Looking] for help was useless. In our watching we have watched For a nation that could not save.
Lam4:18 They hunted our steps So that we could not walk in our streets; Our end drew near, Our days were finished For our end had come.
Lam4:19 Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the sky. They chased us on the mountains; They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
Lam4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the LORD's anointed, Was captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, "Under his shadow We shall live among the nations."
Lam4:21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, Who dwells in the land of Uz; [But] the cup will come around to you as well, You will become drunk and make yourself naked.
Lam4:22 [The punishment] of your iniquity has been completed, O daughter of Zion; He will exile you no longer. [But] He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins!