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

¹⁰ Our skin is hot as an oven,
    feverish from hunger.^(A)

³ For my days vanish like smoke;^(A)
    my bones^(B) burn like glowing embers.
⁴ My heart is blighted and withered like grass;^(C)
    I forget to eat my food.^(D)
5 In my distress I groan aloud^(E)
    and am reduced to skin and bones.

³⁰ My skin grows black^(A) and peels;^(B)
    my body burns with fever.^(C)

²⁰ I am nothing but skin and bones;^(A)
    I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.^[a]

¹⁰ She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!
    Hearts melt,^(A) knees give way,
    bodies tremble, every face grows pale.^(B)

⁶ At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;^(A)
    every face turns pale.^(B)

4 ^[a]How the gold has lost its luster,
    the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
    at every street corner.^(A)

² How the precious children of Zion,^(B)
    once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
    the work of a potter’s hands!