Those who once feasted on delicacies
    perish in the streets;
(A)those who were brought up in purple
    embrace ash heaps.

(B)For the chastisement[a] of the daughter of my people has been greater
    than the punishment[b] of Sodom,
(C)which was overthrown in a moment,
    and no hands were wrung for her.[c]

Her princes were purer than snow,
    whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
    the beauty of their form[d] was like sapphire.[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 4:6 Or iniquity
  2. Lamentations 4:6 Or sin
  3. Lamentations 4:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  4. Lamentations 4:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  5. Lamentations 4:7 Hebrew lapis lazuli

Those who once ate delicacies
    are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple(A)
    now lie on ash heaps.(B)

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

Their princes were brighter than snow
    and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
    their appearance like lapis lazuli.

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