Lamentations 4

Evangelical Heritage Version

Sacred stones are poured out at the corner of every street.
² The precious sons of Zion, who were worth their weight in gold,
    now are treated like clay jars, the work of a potter’s hands!
³ Even jackals offer a breast and nurse their young,
    but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like an ostrich in the wilderness.
⁴ The baby’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth because of thirst.
    Children ask for bread, but no one shares with them.
⁵ Those who ate delicacies have become desolate in the streets.
    Those who were dressed in scarlet have embraced piles of trash.
⁶ The guilt of the daughter of my people was greater than the sin of Sodom,
    which was overthrown in a moment, though no hands turned against her.
⁷ Her consecrated ones^[b] were brighter than snow. They were whiter than milk.
    Their bones were redder than rubies; their facets shined like sapphires.
⁸ Now their faces have become the darkest black. They cannot be recognized in the streets.
    Their skin has shriveled on their bones. It is as dry as a stick of wood.
⁹ Those cut down by the sword are better off than those cut down by hunger,
    those who waste away, pierced with pain, with no crops to eat from the field.
¹⁰ The hands of compassionate women boiled their children.
    Their children became their food when the daughter of my people was broken.
¹¹ The Lord carried out his wrath. He poured out his burning anger.
    He kindled a fire in Zion, and it consumed her foundations.
¹² The kings of the earth and the world’s inhabitants never believed
    that foe and enemy would enter the gates of Jerusalem.
¹³ The reason this happened was the sin of her prophets and the guilt of her priests,
    who shed the blood of the righteous in her midst.
¹⁴ Those blind men staggered in the streets. They were defiled with blood,
    so people could not touch their garments.
¹⁵ “Go away! Unclean!” people shouted to them. “Go away! Go away! Do not touch us!”
    When they fled, when they staggered, people among the nations said,
    “They may not stay here anymore.”
¹⁶ The face of the Lord scattered them. He has no regard for them anymore.
    Priests were shown no consideration. Elders were shown no favor.
¹⁷ Our eyes are still worn out, looking in vain for our help.
    In our watchtowers we watched for a nation that could not save us.
¹⁸ They hunted our steps, preventing us from going into the public squares of our city.
    Our end has drawn near. Our days are finished, for our end has come.
¹⁹ Our pursuers were faster than eagles in the sky.
    On the mountains they were in hot pursuit of us. In the wilderness they waited to ambush us.
²⁰ The life breath for our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord,^[c] was caught in their pits.
    We had said of him, “In his shadow we will live among the nations.”
²¹ Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, who dwells in the land of Uz.
    A cup will also come to you. You will become drunk and naked.
²² The punishment for your guilt is finished, daughter of Zion. He will not send you into exile again.
    Daughter of Edom, he punishes your guilt. He reveals your sins.