Lamentations 4–5

4^aHow is the gold become dim! how is ^bthe most fine gold changed!

The stones of the sanctuary are poured out ^cin the top of every street.

²The precious sons of Zion, comparable to ^dfine gold,

^aHow are they esteemed ^eas earthen ^fpitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

³Even the ^||sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones:

The daughter of my people is become ^gcruel, like ^hthe ostriches in the wilderness.

⁴The tongue of the sucking child ⁱcleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst:

^kThe young children ask bread, and no man ^lbreaketh it unto them.

⁵They that did feed ^mdelicately are desolate in the streets:

They that were brought up ^mnin scarlet ^oembrace dunghills.

⁶For ^pthe ^||punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people ^qis greater than ^rthe punishment of the sin of Sodom,

^sThat was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.

⁷Her ^tNazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk,

They were more ruddy in ^ubody than ^vrubies, their ^wpolishing was of ^uxsapphire:

⁸Their visage is ^y†blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets:

^zTheir skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.

⁹They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger:

For these ^†pine away, ^astricken through for want of the fruits of the field.

^10bThe hands of ^cthe pitiful women ^dhave sodden their own children:

They were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

¹¹The Lord ^ddhath accomplished his fury; ^ehe hath poured out ^fhis fierce anger,

And ^ghath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.

¹²The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed

That the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.

^13hFor the sins of her prophets, and ^hthe iniquities of her priests,

ⁱThat have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,

¹⁴They have wandered as blind men in the streets, ^jthey have polluted themselves with blood,

^||kSo that men could not touch their garments.

¹⁵They cried unto them, Depart ye; ^||it is ^lunclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered,

They said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.

^16mThe ^||anger of the Lord hath divided them; he will no more regard them:

They respected not the persons of the priests, ⁿthey favoured not the elders.

^17mAs for us, ^oour eyes as yet failed ^pfor our vain help:

In our watching we have watched ^qfor a nation that could not save us.

^18rThey hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets:

Our end is near, ^sour days are fulfilled; for ^tour end is come.

¹⁹Our persecutors are ^uswifter than the eagles of the heaven:

They ^vpursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

^20wThe breath of our nostrils, ^xthe anointed of the Lord, ^ywas taken in their ^zpits,

Of whom we said, ^aUnder his shadow we shall live among the heathen.

^21bRejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of ^cUz;

^dThe cup also shall pass through ^eunto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and ^fshalt make thyself naked.

^22||gThe punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; ^hhe will no more carry thee away into captivity:

^eHe will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will ^||discover thy sins.

5^aRemember, O Lord, what is come upon us:

^cConsider, and ^bbehold ^acour reproach.

^2dOur inheritance is turned to strangers,

Our houses to aliens.

³We are orphans and fatherless,

Our mothers are as widows.

⁴We have drunken our water for money;

Our wood ^†is sold unto us.

^5†Our necks are under persecution:

^fWe labour, and have no rest.

^6gWe have given the hand ^hto the Egyptians,

And ^hto the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.

^7ikOur fathers have sinned, and ^klare not;

And ⁱwe have borne their iniquities.

^8mServants have ruled over us:

There is none that doth ⁿdeliver us out of their hand.

⁹We gat our bread with the peril of our lives

Because of the sword of the wilderness.

^10oOur skin was black like an oven

Because of the ^||terrible famine.

^11pqThey ravished the women in Zion,

And ^qthe maids in the cities of Judah.

¹²Princes are hanged up by their hand:

The faces of ^relders ^swere not honoured.

¹³They took the young men ^ssto grind,

And the children ^tfell under the wood.

^14rThe elders have ceased from the gate,

The young men from ^tttheir musick.

¹⁵The joy of our heart is ceased;

^uOur dance ^vis turned into mourning.

^16w†The crown is fallen from our head:

Woe unto us, that we have sinned!

¹⁷For this ^xour heart is faint;

For these things ^your eyes are dim.

¹⁸Because of the mountain of Zion, ^yywhich is desolate,

^zThe foxes walk upon it.

^19aThou, O Lord, remainest for ever;

^bThy throne from generation to generation.

^20cWherefore dost thou forget us for ever,

And forsake us ^†so long time?

^21dTurn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned;

^eRenew our days as of old.

^22||But ^fthou hast utterly rejected us;

Thou art very wroth against us.