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Lamentations 4:20-22
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Lamentations 4:20-22
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
20 The Lord’s anointed—our very lifebreath!—[a]
was caught in their snares,
He in whose shade we thought
to live among the nations.(A)
21 Rejoice and gloat, daughter Edom,
dwelling in the land of Uz,[b]
The cup will pass to you as well;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself naked!(B)
22 Your punishment is completed, daughter Zion,
the Lord will not prolong your exile;
The Lord will punish your iniquity, daughter Edom,
will lay bare your sins.(C)
Footnotes
- 4:20 Our very lifebreath: lit., “the breath of our nostrils,” that is, the king. This expression occurs in Egyptian texts of the late second millennium B.C., and may have survived as a royal epithet in the Jerusalem court. After the disaster of 598 B.C. (2 Kgs 24:1–17), Jerusalem could have hoped to live in peace amidst her neighbors; but they (vv. 21–22) as well as Babylon turned against her to ensure her total devastation in 587 B.C.
- 4:21 Rejoice: the address is sarcastic, since Edom (where Uz may have been located) ravaged the land after the fall of Jerusalem (cf. Ps 137).
Lamentations 4:20-22
New International Version
Lamentations 4:20-22
New International Version
20 The Lord’s anointed,(A) our very life breath,
was caught in their traps.(B)
We thought that under his shadow(C)
we would live among the nations.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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