Lamentations 4–5

Zion Is Punished

4How the gold has grown dim,

the pure gold has changed.

The stones of holiness are scattered

at the head of every street.

²The precious sons of Zion

weighed against fine gold,

how they are thought of as earthen vessels of clay,

the work of the potter’s hands.

³Even the jackal bear the breast

and nurse their cubs;

but the daughter of my people has become ruthless,

like ostriches in the wilderness.

⁴The tongue of the nursling cleaves

to its palate in thirst.

Children beg for food,

no one lays it out before them.^a

⁵The ones who eat delicacies,

they are ruined in the streets;

the ones nurtured in purple

lie on piles of trash.

⁶The iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater

than the sin of Sodom;

it was overthrown in a moment

and no hands were laid on her.

⁷Her princes were purer than snow,

they were whiter than milk;

their bodies were more ruddy than rubies,

sapphire their appearance.

⁸Now their appearance is blacker than soot,

they are not recognized in the streets;

their skin has shriveled on their bones,

it has become dry like wood.

⁹Happier were the victims of the sword

than the victims of famine;

they have pined away, very hungry

for the crops of my field.

¹⁰The hands of compassionate women,

have cooked their children;

they became as something to eat

in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

¹¹Yahweh has completed his anger,

he has poured out his fierce anger;^b

he has kindled a fire in Zion,

it consumed her^c foundations.

¹²The kings of the earth did not believe,

and all the inhabitants of the world,

that a foe and an enemy could enter

into the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³Because of the sins of her prophets,

the guilt of her priests,

who shed blood in her midst,

of righteous people.

¹⁴They wander blindly in the streets;

they were defiled with the blood,

their clothes

could not be touched.

¹⁵“Go away! Defiled!” they shout to them.

“Go away! Go away! Do not touch!”

so they left, they left; it was said among the nations,

“They will no longer dwell with us.”^d

¹⁶The presence of Yahweh has scattered them,

he will no longer watch over them;

they did not honor the priests,^e

they did not show mercy to elders.

¹⁷Still our eyes failed,

looking for our help in vain;

in our watchtower, we kept watch

for a nation that could not save.

¹⁸They hunted our steps,

from walking in our streets;

our end has come near, our days are finished,^f

our end has come.

¹⁹Our pursuers were swifter

than the eagles of the heavens;

they chased us on the mountains,

they have set an ambush for us in the desert.

²⁰The breath of our nostrils, the anointed one of Yahweh,

was captured in their pits;

of whom we said, “In his shadow

we will live among the nations.”

²¹Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,

you who dwell in the land of Uz;

but to you also the cup will pass,

you will become drunk and strip yourself bare.

²²The punishment of your iniquity is completed, O daughter of Zion,

your exile will not continue;

but he will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom,

he will reveal your sins.

A Request for Mercy

5Remember, O Yahweh, what has become of us;

take note, and see our disgrace!

²Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,

our houses, to foreigners.

³We have become orphans, fatherless,

our mothers are like widows.

⁴We pay for water with money,^a

our wood comes to us at a price.

⁵We are driven on our necks;

we are weary, there is no rest for us.

⁶We have made a deal with Egypt and Assyria

to be satisfied with food.

⁷Our fathers have sinned, they are no more;

we bear their iniquity.

⁸Slaves rule over us;

there is no one to deliver us from their hand.

⁹We risk our life for food^b

because of the sword of the desert.

¹⁰Our skin is hot like an oven

because of the scorching famine.

¹¹They raped women in Zion,

young women^c in the cities of Judah.

¹²They hang princes by their hand;

they do not show respect before elders.

¹³Young men must carry a hand-mill

and boys stumble under the wood.

¹⁴Elders are no longer at the gate,

young men no longer play stringed instruments.

¹⁵The joy of our hearts has stopped;

our circle-dancing has changed to a mourning ceremony.

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head;

woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷Because of this, our heart has become faint,

because of these, our eyes have become dim.

¹⁸Because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate,

foxes tread on it.^d

¹⁹You, O Yahweh, will sit forever

on your throne for generation to generation.

²⁰Why have you forgotten us forever?

Why have you forsaken us for so long?^e

²¹Restore us to you, O Yahweh, that we will be restored;

renew our days as of old.

²²Unless you have utterly rejected us,

unless you are angry with us beyond measure.