Lamentations 4:7-9

Modern English Version

⁷ Her princes were purer than snow,
    whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than rubies,
    their appearance like sapphire.

⁸ Their form is blacker than coal;
    they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin cleaves to their bones,
    it has become as dry as wood.

⁹ Those killed by the sword
    are better off than those who die of hunger,
for they pine away,
    stricken for want of the fruits of the field.