² The precious sons of Zion,
    worth their weight in fine gold,
how they are reckoned as earthen pots,
    the work of a potter’s hands!

³ Even the jackals give the breast
    and suckle their young,
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
    like the ostriches in the wilderness.

⁴ The tongue of the nursling cleaves
    to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
the children beg for food,
    but no one gives to them.

⁵ Those who feasted on dainties
    perish in the streets;
those who were brought up in purple
    lie on ash heaps.

⁶ For the chastisement^[a] of the daughter of my people has been greater
    than the punishment^[b] of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment,
    no hand being laid on it.^[c]

⁷ Her princes were purer than snow,
    whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
    the beauty of their form^[d] was like sapphire.^[e]

⁸ Now their visage is blacker than soot,
    they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled upon their bones,
    it has become as dry as wood.

⁹ Happier were the victims of the sword
    than the victims of hunger,
who pined away, stricken
    by want of the fruits of the field.

¹⁰ The hands of compassionate women
    have boiled their own children;
they became their food
    in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

¹¹ The Lord gave full vent to his wrath,
    he poured out his hot anger;
and he kindled a fire in Zion,
    which consumed its foundations.

¹² The kings of the earth did not believe,
    or any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
    the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³ This was for the sins of her prophets
    and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
    the blood of the righteous.

¹⁴ They wandered, blind, through the streets,
    so defiled with blood
that none could touch
    their garments.

¹⁵ “Away! Unclean!” men cried at them;
    “Away! Away! Touch not!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
    men said among the nations,
    “They shall stay with us no longer.”

¹⁶ The Lord himself has scattered them,
    he will regard them no more;
no honor was shown to the priests,
    no favor to the elders.

¹⁷ Our eyes failed, ever watching
    vainly for help;
in our watching^[f] we watched
    for a nation which could not save.

¹⁸ Men dogged our steps
    so that we could not walk in our streets;
our end drew near; our days were numbered;
    for our end had come.

¹⁹ Our pursuers were swifter
    than the vultures in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains,
    they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

²⁰ The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed,
    was taken in their pits,
he of whom we said, “Under his shadow
    we shall live among the nations.”

²¹ Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
    dweller in the land of Uz;
but to you also the cup shall pass;
    you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.

²² The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished,
    he will keep you in exile no longer;
but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish,
    he will uncover your sins.

¹⁹ But thou, O Lord, dost reign for ever;
    thy throne endures to all generations.
²⁰ Why dost thou forget us for ever,
    why dost thou so long forsake us?
²¹ Restore us to thyself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
    Renew our days as of old!
²² Or hast thou utterly rejected us?
    Art thou exceedingly angry with us?

³ You have gathered nothing in your youth;
    how then can you find anything in your old age?
⁴ What an attractive thing is judgment in gray-haired men,
    and for the aged to possess good counsel!
⁵ How attractive is wisdom in the aged,
    and understanding and counsel in honorable men!
⁶ Rich experience is the crown of the aged,
    and their boast is the fear of the Lord.

⁷ With nine thoughts I have gladdened my heart,
    and a tenth I shall tell with my tongue:
a man rejoicing in his children;
    a man who lives to see the downfall of his foes;
⁸ happy is he who lives with an intelligent wife,
    and he who has not made a slip with his tongue,
    and he who has not served a man inferior to himself;
⁹ happy is he who has gained good sense,
    and he who speaks to attentive listeners.
¹⁰ How great is he who has gained wisdom!
    But there is no one superior to him who fears the Lord.
¹¹ The fear of the Lord surpasses everything;
    to whom shall be likened the one who holds it fast?^[b]