the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
at every street corner.
once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
the work of a potter’s hands!
to nurse their young,
but my people have become heartless
like ostriches in the desert.
sticks to the roof of its mouth;
the children beg for bread,
but no one gives it to them.
are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple
now lie on ash heaps.
is greater than that of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment
without a hand turned to help her.
and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
their appearance like lapis lazuli.
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as a stick.
than those who die of famine;
racked with hunger, they waste away
for lack of food from the field.
have cooked their own children,
who became their food
when my people were destroyed.
he has poured out his fierce anger.
He kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed her foundations.
nor did any of the peoples of the world,
that enemies and foes could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed within her
the blood of the righteous.
as if they were blind.
They are so defiled with blood
that no one dares to touch their garments.
“Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”
When they flee and wander about,
people among the nations say,
“They can stay here no longer.”
he no longer watches over them.
The priests are shown no honor,
the elders no favor.
looking in vain for help;
from our towers we watched
for a nation that could not save us.
so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near, our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
than eagles in the sky;
they chased us over the mountains
and lay in wait for us in the desert.
was caught in their traps.
We thought that under his shadow
we would live among the nations.
you who live in the land of Uz.
But to you also the cup will be passed;
you will be drunk and stripped naked.
he will not prolong your exile.
But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom,
and expose your wickedness.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.