Lamentations 4:14-22

English Standard Version

^14 (A)They wandered, blind, through the streets;
    they were so defiled with blood
^(B)that no one was able to touch
    their garments.

¹⁵ “Away! ^(C)Unclean!” people cried at them.
    “Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
    people said among the nations,
    “They shall stay with us no longer.”

^16 (D)The Lord himself^[a] has scattered them;
    he will regard them no more;
^(E)no honor was shown to the priests,
    ^(F)no favor to the elders.

^17 (G)Our eyes failed, ever watching
    ^(H)vainly for help;
in our watching we watched
    for ^(I)a nation which could not save.

^18 (J)They dogged our steps
    so that we could not walk in our streets;
^(K)our end drew near; our days were numbered,
    for our end had come.

¹⁹ Our pursuers were ^(L)swifter
    than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
    they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

^20 (M)The breath of our nostrils, ^(N)the Lord's anointed,
    was captured ^(O)in their pits,
of whom we said, ^(P)“Under his shadow
    we shall live among the nations.”

^21 (Q)Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
    you who dwell in ^(R)the land of Uz;
but to you also ^(S)the cup shall pass;
    you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.

^22 (T)The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
    he will keep you in exile no longer;^[b]
but ^(U)your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
    he will uncover your sins.