Lamentations 4

The Holy Stones Lie Scattered

1 ^aHow the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
^bat the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
worth their weight in ^cfine gold,
how they are regarded as ^dearthen 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 ^esticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
^fthe children beg for food,
but no one gives to them.
5 Those who once feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
^gthose who were brought up in purple
embrace ash heaps.
6 ^hFor the chastisement ▼

▼Or iniquity

of the daughter of my people has been greater
than the punishment ▼

▼Or sin

of Sodom,
^kwhich 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 ^oNow 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 ^pThe hands of ^qcompassionate women
^rhave boiled their own children;
^sthey became their food
during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 ^tThe Lord gave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger,
and ^uhe kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.
12 ^vThe kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 This was for ^wthe sins of her prophets
and ^xthe iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.
14 ^yThey wandered, blind, through the streets;
they were so defiled with blood
^zthat no one was able to touch
their garments.
15 “Away! ^aaUnclean!” people cried at them.
“Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
people said among the nations,
“They shall stay with us no longer.”
16 ^abThe Lord himself ▼

▼Hebrew  The face of the Lord

has scattered them;
he will regard them no more;
^adno honor was shown to the priests,
^aeno favor to the elders.
17 ^afOur eyes failed, ever watching
^agvainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for ^aha nation which could not save.
18 ^aiThey dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
^ajour end drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were ^akswifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 ^alThe breath of our nostrils, ^amthe Lord’s anointed,
was captured ^anin their pits,
of whom we said, ^ao“Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”
21 ^apRejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in ^aqthe land of Uz;
but to you also ^arthe cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
22 ^asThe punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer; ▼

▼Or  he will not exile you again

but ^auyour iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.