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.

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

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

3  Even 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.

4  The 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.

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

They that were brought up mnin scarlet oembrace dunghills.

6  For 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.

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

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

8  Their 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.

9  They 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.

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

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

11  The 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.

12  The 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.

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

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

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

||kSo that men could not touch their garments.

15  They 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.

16  mThe ||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.

17  mAs 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.

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

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

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

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

20  wThe 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.

21  bRejoice 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.