Book of Lamentations, Chapter 4
Chapter 4 of Lamentations
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are poured out
At the [a]corner of every street.
Weighed against fine gold,
How they are regarded as 2earthen jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has become 4cruel
Like 5ostriches in the wilderness.
To the roof of its mouth because of 7thirst;
The little ones 8ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
Are desolate in the streets;
Those [b]reared in purple
Embrace ash pits.
Is greater than the [d]10sin of Sodom,
Which was 11overthrown as in a moment,
And no hands were [e]turned toward her.
They were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in [g]body than corals,
Their polishing was like [h]13lapis lazuli.
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their 15skin is shriveled on their bones,
It is withered, it has become like wood.
Than those [j]slain with hunger;
For they [k]17pine away, being stricken
For lack of the fruits of [l]the field.
18Boiled their own children;
They became 19food for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
He has poured out His fierce anger;
And He has 21kindled a fire in Zion
Which has consumed its foundations.
Nor did any of 22the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Could 23enter the gates of Jerusalem.
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The 25blood of the righteous;
They were defiled with 27blood
So that no one could touch their 28garments.
“Depart, depart, do not touch!”
So they 30fled and wandered;
Men among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to dwell with us.”
He will not continue to regard them;
They did not [n]31honor the priests,
They did not favor the elders.
Looking for [o]help was 32useless;
In our watching we have watched
For a 33nation that could not save.
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our 35end drew near,
Our days were [p]finished
For our end had come.
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
Was 39captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “Under his 40shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
Who dwells in the land of Uz;
But the 42cup will come around to you as well,
You will become drunk and make yourself naked.
He will exile you no longer.
But He 44will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!FOOTNOTES
REFERENCES
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