The Degradation of Zion
How changed the fine gold!
The stones of the sanctuary are [a]scattered
At the head of every street.
[b]Valuable as fine gold,
How they are [c]regarded as clay pots,
The work of the hands of the potter!
To nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people is cruel,
Like ostriches in the wilderness.
To the roof of its mouth for thirst;
The young children ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
Are desolate in the streets;
Those who were brought up in scarlet
Embrace ash heaps.
Is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom,
Which was overthrown in a moment,
With no hand to help her!
And whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in body than rubies,
Like sapphire in their [f]appearance.
They go unrecognized in the streets;
Their skin clings to their bones,
It has become as dry as wood.
Than those who die of hunger;
For these pine away,
Stricken for lack of the fruits of the field.
Have [g]cooked their own children;
They became food for them
In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
He has poured out His fierce anger.
He kindled a fire in Zion,
And it has devoured its foundations.
And all inhabitants of the world,
Would not have believed
That the adversary and the enemy
Could enter the gates of Jerusalem—
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who shed in her midst
The blood of the just.
They have defiled themselves with blood,
So that no one would touch their garments.
“Go away, unclean!
Go away, go away,
Do not touch us!”
When they fled and wandered,
Those among the nations said,
“They shall no longer dwell here.”
He no longer regards them.
The people do not respect the priests
Nor show favor to the elders.
Watching vainly for our help;
In our watching we watched
For a nation that could not save us.
So that we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near;
Our days were over,
For our end had come.
Than the eagles of the heavens.
They pursued us on the mountains
And lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
Was caught in their pits,
Of whom we said, “Under his shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
You who dwell in the land of Uz!
The cup shall also pass over to you
And you shall become drunk and make yourself naked.
O daughter of Zion;
He will no longer send you into captivity.
He will punish your iniquity,
O daughter of Edom;
He will uncover your sins!
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:1 Lit. poured out
- Lamentations 4:2 Lit. Weighed against
- Lamentations 4:2 reckoned
- Lamentations 4:7 Or nobles
- Lamentations 4:7 Or purer
- Lamentations 4:7 Lit. polishing
- Lamentations 4:10 boiled
- Lamentations 4:16 Tg. anger
- Lamentations 4:18 Lit. hunted
- Lamentations 4:22 has been completed