Lamentations 4:1-16

English Standard Version

² The precious sons of Zion,
    worth their weight in ^(C)fine gold,
how they are regarded as ^(D)earthen 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 ^(E)sticks
    to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
^(F)the children beg for food,
    but no one gives to them.

⁵ Those who once feasted on delicacies
    perish in the streets;
^(G)those who were brought up in purple
    embrace ash heaps.

^6 (H)For the chastisement^[a] of the daughter of my people has been greater
    than the punishment^[b] of Sodom,
^(I)which was overthrown in a moment,
    and no hands were wrung for her.^[c]

⁷ Her princes were purer than snow,
    whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
    the beauty of their form^[d] was like sapphire.^[e]

^8 (J)Now 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 (K)The hands of ^(L)compassionate women
    ^(M)have boiled their own children;
^(N)they became their food
    during the destruction of the daughter of my people.

^11 (O)The Lord gave full vent to his wrath;
    he poured out his hot anger,
and ^(P)he kindled a fire in Zion
    that consumed its foundations.

^12 (Q)The 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 ^(R)the sins of her prophets
    and ^(S)the iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
    the blood of the righteous.

^14 (T)They wandered, blind, through the streets;
    they were so defiled with blood
^(U)that no one was able to touch
    their garments.

¹⁵ “Away! ^(V)Unclean!” 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 (W)The Lord himself^[f] has scattered them;
    he will regard them no more;
^(X)no honor was shown to the priests,
    ^(Y)no favor to the elders.