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.

ALEPH. O how the gold has become dulled, the finest color has been altered, the stones of the sanctuary have been scattered at the head of every street.

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!

BETH. The famous sons of Zion, and those clothed with the foremost gold: how they have become like earthen vessels, the work of the hands of a potter.

3 Even jackals nurse their young at their breasts, but the women of my people have become cruel, like an ostrich in the desert.

GHIMEL. Yet even savages expose their breast and give milk to their young. But the daughter of my people is cruel, like the ostrich in the desert.

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.

DALETH. The tongue of the infant adheres to his palate out of thirst. The little ones have asked for bread, and there was no one to break it for them.

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.

HE. Those who were fed indulgently have passed away in the roads. Those who were nourished with saffron have welcomed filth.

6 Jerusalem's punishment is worse than sinful Sodom's, which was destroyed in a brief moment, without the help of human hands.

VAU. And the iniquity of the daughter of my people has been made greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and yet hands did not take captives in her.

7 Her leaders were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were a healthier red than coral, and they shone like lapis lazuli.

ZAIN. Her Nazirites were whiter than snow, shinier than milk, more ruddy than ancient ivory, more beautiful than sapphire.

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.

HETH. Their face has been blacked more than coals, and they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has adhered to their bones; it dried out and became like wood.

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.

TETH. It was better for those slain by the sword, than for those put to death by famine. For these waste away, being consumed by the sterility of the land.

10 The hands of loving women have cooked their own children to eat during the destruction of Jerusalem.

JOD. The hands of pitiable women have boiled their sons. They became their food in the grief of the daughter of my people.

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.

CAPH. The Lord has completed his fury; he has poured out the wrath of his indignation. And he has kindled a fire in Zion, and it has devoured its foundations.

12 No king on earth—in fact nobody in all the world—thought that an enemy or attacker could enter the gates of Jerusalem.

LAMED. The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, did not believe that the adversary and the enemy would enter through the gates of Jerusalem.

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.

MEM. It is because of the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, who have shed the blood of the just in her midst.

14 They wandered like blind men through the streets, made unclean by this blood, so no one would touch their clothes.

NUN. They have wandered in the streets like the blind; they have been defiled with blood. And when they were not able, they held their garments.

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!”

SAMECH. “Go back, you polluted ones!” they cried out to them. “Go back, go away, do not touch!” Of course, they argued, and being removed, they said among the Gentiles, “He will no longer dwell among them.”

16 The Lord himself has scattered them; he doesn't bother with them anymore. Nobody respects the priests, and nobody admires the leaders.

PHE. The face of the Lord has divided them. He will no longer respect them. They were not ashamed before the faces of the priests, nor did they take pity on the elderly.

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.

AIN. While we were still standing, our eyes failed, expecting help for us in vain, when we looked attentively toward a nation that was not able to save.

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.

SADE. Our footsteps have slipped on the paths of our own streets. Our end draws near. Our days have been completed, for our end has arrived.

19 Our pursuers were faster than eagles in the sky. They chased us across the mountains and ambushed us in the desert.

COPH. Our persecutors have been swifter than the eagles of the sky. They have been pursuing us above the mountains; they have lain in wait for us in the desert.

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.”

RES. The spirit of our mouth, Christ the Lord, has been captured by our sins; to him, we said, “In your shadow, we will live among the Gentiles.”

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.

SIN. Be glad and rejoice, O daughter of Edom, who dwells in the Land of Uz. The cup will also pass to you; you will be inebriated as well as naked.

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.

THAU. Your iniquity has been completed, O daughter of Zion. He will no longer send you away to captivity. He has visited your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he has uncovered your sins.