Lam 4 | NASB2020 | STEP | How dark the gold has become , How the pure gold has changed ! The sacred stones are spilled 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 spilled out
At the ^{▼▼Lit head}corner of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against pure gold,
How they are regarded as ^cearthenware 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 proved herself ^ecruel,
Like ^fostriches in the wilderness.
4 The ^gtongue of the infant clings
To the roof of its mouth because of ^hthirst;
The children ⁱask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
5 Those who used to eat ^jdelicacies
Are made to tremble in the streets;
Those who were raised in crimson clothing
Embrace garbage heaps.
6 For the ^{▼▼Or punishment for wrongdoing}wrongdoing of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the ^{▼▼Or punishment for sin
,} ^msin of Sodom,
Which was ⁿoverthrown as in a moment,
^{▼▼I.e., without human intervention}And no hands were turned toward her.
7 Her ^{▼▼Or Nazirites}consecrated ones were ^qpurer than snow,
They shined more than milk;
They were more ruddy in ^{▼▼Lit bones}body than pearls of coral,
Their form was like ^{▼▼Heb sappir
,} ^tlapis lazuli.
8 Their appearance is ^udarker than soot,
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their ^vskin is shriveled on their bones,
It is dry, it has become like wood.
9 Better off are those ^wkilled by the sword
Than those killed by hunger;
For they ^{▼▼Lit flow away
,} ^ywaste away, ^{▼▼Lit pierced through}stricken
By the lack of the produce of the field.
10 The hands of compassionate women
^aaBoiled their own children;
They became ^abfood for them
Due to the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 The Lord has ^acexpended His wrath,
He has poured out His fierce anger;
And He has ^adkindled a fire in Zion,
And it has consumed its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of ^aethe inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Would ^afenter the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Because of the sins of her ^agprophets
And the wrongdoings of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The ^ahblood of the righteous,
14 They wandered, ^aiblind, in the streets;
They were defiled with ^ajblood,
Such that no one could touch their ^akgarments.
15 “Keep away! ^alUnclean!” ^{▼▼Or they (other people) cried to them}they cried out of themselves.
“Keep away, keep away, do not touch!”
For they ^andistanced themselves as well as wandered;
People among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to reside with us.”
16 The presence of the Lord has scattered them,
He will not continue to look at them;
They did not ^{▼▼Lit lift up the faces of
,} ^aphonor the priests,
They did not favor the elders.
17 Yet our eyes failed,
Looking for ^{▼▼Lit our help}help was ^aruseless;
At our observation point we have watched
For a ^asnation that could not save.
18 They ^athunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our ^auend drew near,
Our days were ^{▼▼Lit full}finished
For our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were ^awswifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
20 The ^axbreath of our nostrils, the ^ayLord’s anointed,
Was ^azcaptured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “ ^{▼▼I.e., under his protection}In his ^bbshadow
We shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be joyful, daughter of ^bcEdom,
Who lives in the land of Uz;
But the ^bdcup will pass to you as well,
You will become drunk and expose yourself.
22 The punishment of your wrongdoing has been ^becompleted, daughter of Zion;
He will no longer exile you.
But He ^bfwill punish your wrongdoing, daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!