Lamentations 4:17-22
New American Standard Bible
17 Yet our eyes failed,
Looking for [a]help was (A)useless;
At our observation point we have watched
For a (B)nation that could not save.
18 They (C)hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our (D)end drew near,
Our days were [b]finished
For our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were (E)swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
20 The (F)breath of our nostrils, the (G)Lord’s anointed,
Was (H)captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “[c]In his (I)shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be joyful, daughter of (J)Edom,
Who lives in the land of Uz;
But the (K)cup will pass to you as well,
You will become drunk and expose yourself.
22 The punishment of your wrongdoing has been (L)completed, daughter of Zion;
He will no longer exile you.
But He (M)will punish your wrongdoing, daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:17 Lit our help
- Lamentations 4:18 Lit full
- Lamentations 4:20 I.e., under his protection
Lamentations 4:17-22
New Living Translation
17 We looked in vain for our allies
to come and save us,
but we were looking to nations
that could not help us.
18 We couldn’t go into the streets
without danger to our lives.
Our end was near; our days were numbered.
We were doomed!
19 Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight.
If we fled to the mountains, they found us.
If we hid in the wilderness,
they were waiting for us there.
20 Our king—the Lord’s anointed, the very life of our nation—
was caught in their snares.
We had thought that his shadow
would protect us against any nation on earth!
21 Are you rejoicing in the land of Uz,
O people of Edom?
But you, too, must drink from the cup of the Lord’s anger.
You, too, will be stripped naked in your drunkenness.
22 O beautiful Jerusalem,[a] your punishment will end;
you will soon return from exile.
But Edom, your punishment is just beginning;
soon your many sins will be exposed.
Footnotes
- 4:22 Hebrew O daughter of Zion.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
