Lamentations 4

New American Standard Bible

4 How ^(A)dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are spilled out
At the ^[a]corner of every street.
² The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against pure gold,
How they are regarded as ^(B)earthenware jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
³ Even ^(C)jackals offer the breast,
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has proved herself ^(D)cruel,
Like ^(E)ostriches in the wilderness.
⁴ The ^(F)tongue of the infant clings
To the roof of its mouth because of ^(G)thirst;
The children ^(H)ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
⁵ Those who used to eat ^(I)delicacies
Are made to tremble in the streets;
Those who were raised in crimson clothing
Embrace garbage heaps.
⁶ For the ^[b]wrongdoing of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the ^[c](J)sin of Sodom,
Which was ^(K)overthrown as in a moment,
^[d]And no hands were turned toward her.
⁷ Her ^[e]consecrated ones were ^(L)purer than snow,
They shined more than milk;
They were more ruddy in ^[f]body than pearls of coral,
Their form was like ^[g](M)lapis lazuli.
⁸ Their appearance is ^(N)darker than soot,
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their ^(O)skin is shriveled on their bones,
It is dry, it has become like wood.
⁹ Better off are those ^(P)killed by the sword
Than those killed by hunger;
For they ^[h](Q)waste away, ^[i]stricken
By the lack of the produce of the field.
¹⁰ The hands of compassionate women
^(R)Boiled their own children;
They became ^(S)food for them
Due to the destruction of the daughter of my people.
¹¹ The Lord has ^(T)expended His wrath,
He has poured out His fierce anger;
And He has ^(U)kindled a fire in Zion,
And it has consumed its foundations.
¹² The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of ^(V)the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Would ^(W)enter the gates of Jerusalem.
¹³ Because of the sins of her ^(X)prophets
And the wrongdoings of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The ^(Y)blood of the righteous,
¹⁴ They wandered, ^(Z)blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with ^(AA)blood,
Such that no one could touch their ^(AB)garments.
¹⁵ “Keep away! ^(AC)Unclean!” ^[j]they cried out of themselves.
“Keep away, keep away, do not touch!”
For they ^(AD)distanced themselves as well as wandered;
People among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to reside with us.”
¹⁶ The presence of the Lord has scattered them,
He will not continue to look at them;
They did not ^[k](AE)honor the priests,
They did not favor the elders.
¹⁷ Yet our eyes failed,
Looking for ^[l]help was ^(AF)useless;
At our observation point we have watched
For a ^(AG)nation that could not save.
¹⁸ They ^(AH)hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our ^(AI)end drew near,
Our days were ^[m]finished
For our end had come.
¹⁹ Our pursuers were ^(AJ)swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
²⁰ The ^(AK)breath of our nostrils, the ^(AL)Lord’s anointed,
Was ^(AM)captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “^[n]In his ^(AN)shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
²¹ Rejoice and be joyful, daughter of ^(AO)Edom,
Who lives in the land of Uz;
But the ^(AP)cup will pass to you as well,
You will become drunk and expose yourself.
²² The punishment of your wrongdoing has been ^(AQ)completed, daughter of Zion;
He will no longer exile you.
But He ^(AR)will punish your wrongdoing, daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!