Lamentations 4
1 How gold has tarnished! Even pure gold has lost its shine! Jewels from the Temple have been scattered on every street corner.
黃金何其失光！ 純金何其變色！ 聖所的石頭倒在各市口上。
2 Look at how the precious people of Zion, worth their weight in gold, are now valued like cheap clay jars made by a potter!
錫安寶貴的眾子好比精金， 現在何竟算為窯匠手所做的瓦瓶？
3 Even jackals nurse their young at their breasts, but the women of my people have become cruel, like an ostrich in the desert.
野狗尚且把奶乳哺其子， 我民的婦人倒成為殘忍， 好像曠野的鴕鳥一般。
4 The nursing babies are so thirsty that their tongues stick to the roof of their mouths. Little children beg for food, but nobody gives them anything.
吃奶孩子的舌頭因乾渴貼住上膛； 孩童求餅，無人擘給他們。
5 Those who used to eat gourmet food now die starving in the streets. Those who dressed in fine clothes from their childhood now live in heaps of rubbish.
素來吃美好食物的， 現今在街上變為孤寒； 素來臥朱紅褥子的， 現今躺臥糞堆。
6 Jerusalem's punishment is worse than sinful Sodom's, which was destroyed in a brief moment, without the help of human hands.
都因我眾民的罪孽比所多瑪的罪還大； 所多瑪雖然無人加手於她， 還是轉眼之間被傾覆。
7 Her leaders were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were a healthier red than coral, and they shone like lapis lazuli.
錫安的貴冑素來比雪純淨， 比奶更白； 他們的身體比紅寶玉更紅， 像光潤的藍寶石一樣。
8 But now they look blacker than soot; no one recognizes them in the street. Their skin has shrunk to their bones and is as dry as wood.
現在他們的面貌比煤炭更黑， 以致在街上無人認識； 他們的皮膚緊貼骨頭， 枯乾如同槁木。
9 Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who slowly waste away in agony because the fields produce no crops.
餓死的不如被刀殺的， 因為這是缺了田間的土產， 就身體衰弱，漸漸消滅。
10 The hands of loving women have cooked their own children to eat during the destruction of Jerusalem.
慈心的婦人，當我眾民被毀滅的時候， 親手煮自己的兒女作為食物。
11 The Lord has given full expression to his anger. He has poured out his fury. He has started a fire in Zion, and it has burned down her very foundations.
耶和華發怒成就他所定的， 倒出他的烈怒； 在錫安使火着起， 燒毀錫安的根基。
12 No king on earth—in fact nobody in all the world—thought that an enemy or attacker could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
地上的君王和世上的居民都不信 敵人和仇敵能進耶路撒冷的城門。
13 But this happened because of the sins of her prophets and the wickedness of her priests, who shed the blood of the innocent right there in the city.
這都因她先知的罪惡和祭司的罪孽； 他們在城中流了義人的血。
14 They wandered like blind men through the streets, made unclean by this blood, so no one would touch their clothes.
他們在街上如瞎子亂走， 又被血玷污， 以致人不能摸他們的衣服。
15 “Go away! You're unclean!” people would shout at them, “Go away, go away! Don't touch us!” So they ran away and wandered from country to country, but the people there told them, “You can't stay here!”
人向他們喊着說： 不潔淨的，躲開，躲開！ 不要挨近我！ 他們逃走飄流的時候， 列國中有人說： 他們不可仍在這裏寄居。
16 The Lord himself has scattered them; he doesn't bother with them anymore. Nobody respects the priests, and nobody admires the leaders.
耶和華發怒，將他們分散， 不再眷顧他們； 人不重看祭司，也不厚待長老。
17 We wore out our eyes pointlessly looking for help the whole time; we watched from our towers for a nation to come that couldn't save us.
我們仰望人來幫助， 以致眼目失明，還是枉然； 我們所盼望的，竟盼望一個不能救人的國！
18 The enemy tracked our every movement so we couldn't walk through our streets. Our end approached. Our time was up because our end had come.
仇敵追趕我們的腳步像打獵的， 以致我們不敢在自己的街上行走。 我們的結局臨近； 我們的日子滿足； 我們的結局來到了。
19 Our pursuers were faster than eagles in the sky. They chased us across the mountains and ambushed us in the desert.
追趕我們的比空中的鷹更快； 他們在山上追逼我們， 在曠野埋伏，等候我們。
20 The king, the Lord's anointed, our country's “life-breath,” was trapped and captured by them. We had said about him, “Under his protection we will live among the nations.”
耶和華的受膏者好比我們鼻中的氣， 在他們的坑中被捉住； 我們曾論到他說： 我們必在他蔭下， 在列國中存活。
21 Celebrate and be happy while you can, people of Edom, you who live in the land of Uz, because this cup will be passed to you too. You will get drunk and strip yourself naked.
住烏斯地的以東民哪，只管歡喜快樂； 苦杯也必傳到你那裏； 你必喝醉，以致露體。
22 People of Zion, your punishment is coming to an end—he won't continue your exile for long. But he is going to punish your sins, people of Edom; he will reveal your sins.
錫安的民哪，你罪孽的刑罰受足了， 耶和華必不使你再被擄去。 以東的民哪，他必追討你的罪孽， 顯露你的罪惡。
