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

⁴ Because of thirst^(B) the infant’s tongue
    sticks to the roof of its mouth;^(C)
the children beg for bread,
    but no one gives it to them.^(D)

⁵ Those who once ate delicacies
    are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple^(E)
    now lie on ash heaps.^(F)

⁶ The punishment of my people
    is greater than that of Sodom,^(G)
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 lapis lazuli.

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

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

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

² “Judah mourns,^(B)
    her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
    and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
³ The nobles send their servants for water;
    they go to the cisterns
    but find no water.^(C)
They return with their jars unfilled;
    dismayed and despairing,
    they cover their heads.^(D)
4 The ground is cracked
    because there is no rain in the land;^(E)
the farmers are dismayed
    and cover their heads.
⁵ Even the doe in the field
    deserts her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.^(F)
6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights^(G)
    and pant like jackals;
their eyes fail
    for lack of food.”^(H)

²⁰ The king sent and released him,
    the ruler of peoples set him free.^(A)
21 He made him master of his household,
    ruler over all he possessed,
²² to instruct his princes^(B) as he pleased
    and teach his elders wisdom.^(C)