Lamentations 4–5

Chapter 4

Distress of the Siege Described

¹How ^adark the gold has become,

How the pure gold has changed!

The sacred stones are poured out

At the ¹corner of every street.

²The precious sons of Zion,

Weighed against fine gold,

How they are regarded as ^aearthen jars,

The work of a potter’s hands!

³Even ^ajackals offer the breast,

They nurse their young;

But the daughter of my people has become ^bcruel

Like ^costriches in the wilderness.

⁴The ^atongue of the infant cleaves

To the roof of its mouth because of ^bthirst;

The little ones ^cask for bread,

But no one breaks it for them.

⁵Those who ate ^adelicacies

Are desolate in the streets;

Those ¹reared in purple

Embrace ash pits.

⁶For the ¹iniquity of the daughter of my people

Is greater than the ^2asin of Sodom,

Which was ^boverthrown as in a moment,

And no hands were ³turned toward her.

⁷Her ¹consecrated ones were ^apurer than snow,

They were whiter than milk;

They were more ruddy in ²body than corals,

Their polishing was like ^3blapis lazuli.

⁸Their appearance is ^ablacker than soot,

They are not recognized in the streets;

Their ^bskin is shriveled on their bones,

It is withered, it has become like wood.

⁹Better are those ^1aslain with the sword

Than those slain with hunger;

For they ^2bpine away, being stricken

For lack of the fruits of ³the field.

¹⁰The hands of compassionate women

^aBoiled their own children;

They became ^bfood for them

Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

¹¹The Lord has ^aaccomplished His wrath,

He has poured out His fierce anger;

And He has ^bkindled a fire in Zion

Which has consumed its foundations.

¹²The kings of the earth did not believe,

Nor did any of ^athe inhabitants of the world,

That the adversary and the enemy

Could ^benter the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³Because of the sins of her ^aprophets

And the iniquities of her priests,

Who have shed in her midst

The ^bblood of the righteous;

¹⁴They wandered, ^ablind, in the streets;

They were defiled with ^bblood

So that no one could touch their ^cgarments.

¹⁵“Depart! ^aUnclean!” ¹they cried of themselves.

“Depart, depart, do not touch!”

So they ^bfled and wandered;

Men among the nations said,

“They shall not continue to dwell with us.”

¹⁶The presence of the Lord has scattered them,

He will not continue to regard them;

They did not ^1ahonor the priests,

They did not favor the elders.

¹⁷Yet our eyes failed,

Looking for ¹help was ^auseless;

In our watching we have watched

For a ^bnation that could not save.

¹⁸They ^ahunted our steps

So that we could not walk in our streets;

Our ^bend drew near,

Our days were ¹finished

For our end had come.

¹⁹Our pursuers were ^aswifter

Than the eagles of the sky;

They chased us on the mountains,

They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.

²⁰The ^abreath of our nostrils, the ^bLord’s anointed,

Was ^ccaptured in their pits,

Of whom we had said, “Under his ^dshadow

We shall live among the nations.”

²¹Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of ^aEdom,

Who dwells in the land of Uz;

But the ^bcup will come around to you as well,

You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

²²The punishment of your iniquity has been ^acompleted, O daughter of Zion;

He will exile you no longer.

But He ^bwill punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;

He will expose your sins!

Chapter 5

A Prayer for Mercy

¹Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;

Look, and see our ^areproach!

²Our inheritance has been turned over to ^astrangers,

Our ^bhouses to aliens.

³We have become orphans ^awithout a father,

Our mothers are like widows.

⁴¹We have to pay for our drinking ^awater,

Our wood comes to us at a price.

⁵¹Our pursuers are at our necks;

We are worn out, there is ^ano rest for us.

⁶We have ¹submitted to ^aEgypt and Assyria ²to get enough bread.

⁷Our ^afathers sinned, and are no more;

It is we who have borne their iniquities.

^8aSlaves rule over us;

There is ^bno one to deliver us from their hand.

⁹We get our bread ¹at the ^arisk of our lives

²Because of the sword in the wilderness.

¹⁰Our skin has become as ^ahot as an oven,

Because of ¹the burning heat of famine.

¹¹They ravished the ^awomen in Zion,

The virgins in the cities of Judah.

¹²Princes were hung by their hands;

^1aElders were not respected.

¹³Young men ^1aworked at the grinding mill,

And youths ^bstumbled under loads of wood.

¹⁴Elders ¹are gone from the gate,

Young men from their ^amusic.

¹⁵The joy of our hearts has ^aceased;

Our dancing has been turned into mourning.

¹⁶The ^acrown has fallen from our head;

^bWoe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷Because of this our ^aheart is faint,

Because of these things our ^beyes are dim;

¹⁸Because of ^aMount Zion which lies desolate,

^bFoxes prowl in it.

^19aYou, O Lord, ¹rule forever;

Your ^bthrone is from generation to generation.

²⁰Why do You ^aforget us forever?

Why do You forsake us ¹so long?

^21aRestore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored;

Renew ^bour days as of old,

²²Unless ^aYou have utterly rejected us

And are exceedingly ^bangry with us.