Lamentations 4

Legacy Standard Bible

4 How ^(A)dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are poured out
At the head of every street.

² The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against fine gold,
How they are regarded as ^(B)earthen jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!

³ Even ^(C)jackals offer the breast;
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has become ^(D)cruel
Like ^(E)ostriches in the wilderness.

⁴ The ^(F)tongue of the nursing baby cleaves
To the roof of its mouth because of ^(G)thirst;
The infants ^(H)ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.

⁵ Those who ate ^(I)delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those ^[a]reared in crimson
Embrace ash pits.

⁶ So the ^[b]iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the ^[c](J)sin of Sodom,
Which was ^(K)overthrown as in a moment,
And no hands ^[d]whirled toward her.

⁷ Her ^[e]Nazirites were ^(L)purer than snow;
They were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in ^[f]body than corals,
Their polishing was like ^[g](M)lapis lazuli.

⁸ Their form is ^(N)blacker than soot;
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their ^(O)skin is shriveled on their bones;
It is withered, it has become like wood.

⁹ Better are those ^(P)pierced through with the sword
Than those pierced through with hunger;
For their life ^(Q)flows away, being stricken
For lack of the produce of ^[h]the field.

¹⁰ The hands of compassionate women
^(R)Boiled their own children;
They became ^(S)food for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

¹¹ Yahweh has ^(T)spent His wrath;
He has poured out His burning anger;
And He has ^(U)kindled a fire in Zion
Which has devoured its foundations.

¹² The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of ^(V)the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Could ^(W)enter the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³ Because of the sins of her ^(X)prophets
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The ^(Y)blood of the righteous;

¹⁴ They wandered, ^(Z)blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with ^(AA)blood
So that no one could touch their ^(AB)garments.

¹⁵ “Depart! ^(AC)Unclean!” ^[i]they cried of themselves.
“Depart, depart, do not touch!”
So they ^(AD)fled and wandered;
Men among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to sojourn with us.”

¹⁶ The presence of Yahweh has eradicated them;
He will not continue to look at them;
They did not ^[j](AE)honor the priests;
They did not favor the elders.

¹⁷ Yet our eyes were spent,
Looking for ^[k]help was ^(AF)vanity;
In our watching we have watched
For a ^(AG)nation that could not save.

¹⁸ They ^(AH)hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our open squares;
Our ^(AI)end drew near,
Our days were ^[l]finished,
For our end had come.

¹⁹ Our pursuers were ^(AJ)swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They hotly pursued us on the mountains;
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.

²⁰ The ^(AK)breath of our nostrils, the ^(AL)anointed of Yahweh,
Was ^(AM)captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “Under his ^(AN)shadow
We shall live among the nations.”

²¹ Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of ^(AO)Edom,
Who inhabits the land of Uz;
But the ^(AP)cup will pass on to you as well;
You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

²² The punishment of your iniquity has come ^(AQ)to an end, O daughter of Zion;
He will exile you no longer.
But He ^(AR)will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!