Jer 9:21, Lam 1:5-6, 2:20-22, 4:2-10 | ESV | STEP | For death has come up into our windows ; it has entered our palaces , cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares .

Jeremiah 9:21

21 For death has come up into our windows;
it has entered our palaces,
^acutting off the children from the streets
and the young men from the squares.

Lamentations 1:5-6

5 ^bHer foes have become the head;
her ^cenemies prosper,
because ^dthe Lord has afflicted her
^efor the multitude of her transgressions;
^fher children have gone away,
captives before the foe.
6 From the daughter of Zion
all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
^gthat find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.

Lamentations 2:20-22

20 Look, O Lord, and see!
^hWith whom have you dealt thus?
ⁱShould women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of ^jtheir tender care?
Should ^kpriest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 In the dust of the streets
^llie the young and the old;
^mmy young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
ⁿyou have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering ^owithout pity.
22 You summoned as if to ^pa festival day
^qmy terrors on every side,
^rand on the day of the anger of the Lord
no one escaped or survived;
^sthose whom I held and raised
my enemy destroyed.

Lamentations 4:2-10

2 The precious sons of Zion,
worth their weight in ^tfine gold,
how they are regarded as ^uearthen pots,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer the breast;
they nurse their young;
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the nursing infant ^vsticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
^wthe children beg for food,
but no one gives to them.
5 Those who once feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
^xthose who were brought up in purple
embrace ash heaps.
6 ^yFor the chastisement ^{▼▼Or iniquity} of the daughter of my people has been greater
than the punishment ^{▼▼Or sin} of Sodom,
^abwhich was overthrown in a moment,
and no hands were wrung for her. ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain}
7 Her princes were purer than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
the beauty of their form ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} was like sapphire. ^{▼▼Hebrew lapis lazuli}
8 ^afNow their face is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.
9 Happier were the victims of the sword
than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away, pierced
by lack of the fruits of the field.
10 ^agThe hands of ^ahcompassionate women
^aihave boiled their own children;
^ajthey became their food
during the destruction of the daughter of my people.