Lamentations 4:1-12 (New International Version)

Lamentations 4

 ^1[a] How the gold has lost its luster,
       the fine gold become dull!
       The sacred gems are scattered
       at the head of every street.

 ² How the precious sons of Zion,
       once worth their weight in gold,
       are now considered as pots of clay,
       the work of a potter's hands!

 ³ Even jackals offer their breasts
       to nurse their young,
       but my people have become heartless
       like ostriches in the desert.

 ⁴ Because of thirst the infant's tongue
       sticks to the roof of its mouth;
       the children beg for bread,
       but no one gives it to them.

 ⁵ Those who once ate delicacies
       are destitute in the streets.
       Those nurtured in purple
       now lie on ash heaps.

 ⁶ The punishment of my people
       is greater than that of Sodom,
       which was overthrown in a moment
       without a hand turned to help her.

 ⁷ Their princes were brighter than snow
       and whiter than milk,
       their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
       their appearance like sapphires. ^[b]

 ⁸ But now they are blacker than soot;
       they are not recognized in the streets.
       Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
       it has become as dry as a stick.

 ⁹ Those killed by the sword are better off
       than those who die of famine;
       racked with hunger, they waste away
       for lack of food from the field.

 ¹⁰ With their own hands compassionate women
       have cooked their own children,
       who became their food
       when my people were destroyed.

 ¹¹ The LORD has given full vent to his wrath;
       he has poured out his fierce anger.
       He kindled a fire in Zion
       that consumed her foundations.

 ¹² The kings of the earth did not believe,
       nor did any of the world's people,
       that enemies and foes could enter
       the gates of Jerusalem.