Lam 4 | NASB1995 | STEP | How dark the gold has become , How the pure gold has changed ! The sacred stones are poured out At the corner of every street .

Lamentations 4

Distress of the Siege Described

1 How ^adark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are poured out
At the ^{▼▼ Lit head}corner of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against fine gold,
How they are regarded as ^cearthen jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even ^djackals offer the breast,
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has become ^ecruel
Like ^fostriches in the wilderness.
4 The ^gtongue of the infant cleaves
To the roof of its mouth because of ^hthirst;
The little ones ⁱask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
5 Those who ate ^jdelicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those ^{▼▼ Lit established in crimson}reared in purple
Embrace ash pits.
6 For the ^{▼▼ Or punishment for iniquity}iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the ^{▼▼ Or punishment for sin
,} ⁿsin of Sodom,
Which was ^ooverthrown as in a moment,
And no hands were ^{▼▼ Or wrung over her}turned toward her.
7 Her ^{▼▼ Or Nazirites}consecrated ones were ^rpurer than snow,
They were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in ^{▼▼ Lit bones}body than corals,
Their polishing was like ^{▼▼ Heb sappir
,} ^ulapis lazuli.
8 Their appearance is ^vblacker than soot,
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their ^wskin is shriveled on their bones,
It is withered, it has become like wood.
9 Better are those ^{▼▼ Lit pierced
,} ^yslain with the sword
Than those ^{▼▼ Lit pierced}slain with hunger;
For they ^{▼▼ Lit flow away
,} ^abpine away, being stricken
For lack of the fruits of ^{▼▼ Lit my fields}the field.
10 The hands of compassionate women
^adBoiled their own children;
They became ^aefood for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 The Lord has ^afaccomplished His wrath,
He has poured out His fierce anger;
And He has ^agkindled a fire in Zion
Which has consumed its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of ^ahthe inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Could ^aienter the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Because of the sins of her ^ajprophets
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The ^akblood of the righteous;
14 They wandered, ^alblind, in the streets;
They were defiled with ^amblood
So that no one could touch their ^angarments.
15 “Depart! ^aoUnclean!” ^{▼▼ Or they (men) cried to them}they cried of themselves.
“Depart, depart, do not touch!”
So they ^aqfled and wandered;
Men among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to dwell with us.”
16 The presence of the Lord has scattered them,
He will not continue to regard them;
They did not ^{▼▼ Lit lift up the faces of
,} ^ashonor the priests,
They did not favor the elders.
17 Yet our eyes failed,
Looking for ^{▼▼ Lit our help}help was ^auuseless;
In our watching we have watched
For a ^avnation that could not save.
18 They ^awhunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our ^axend drew near,
Our days were ^{▼▼ Lit full}finished
For our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were ^azswifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
20 The ^babreath of our nostrils, the ^bbLord’s anointed,
Was ^bccaptured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “Under his ^bdshadow
We shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of ^beEdom,
Who dwells in the land of Uz;
But the ^bfcup will come around to you as well,
You will become drunk and make yourself naked.
22 The punishment of your iniquity has been ^bgcompleted, O daughter of Zion;
He will exile you no longer.
But He ^bhwill punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!