Lamentations 4
New International Reader's Version
4 Look at how the gold has lost its brightness!
See how dull the fine gold has become!
The sacred jewels are scattered
at every street corner.
2 The priceless children of Zion
were worth their weight in gold.
But now they are thought of as clay pots
made by the hands of a potter.
3 Even wild dogs
nurse their young pups.
But my people are as mean
as ostriches in the desert.
4 When the babies get thirsty,
their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths.
When the children beg for bread,
no one gives them any.
5 Those who once ate fine food
are dying in the streets.
Those who wore royal clothes
are now lying on piles of trash.
6 My people have been punished
more than Sodom was.
It was destroyed in a moment.
No one offered it a helping hand.
7 Jerusalem’s princes were brighter than snow.
They were whiter than milk.
Their bodies were redder than rubies.
They looked like lapis lazuli.
8 But now they are blacker than coal.
No one even recognizes them in the streets.
Their skin is wrinkled on their bones.
It has become as dry as a stick.
9 Those killed by swords are better off
than those who die of hunger.
Those who are hungry waste away to nothing.
They don’t have any food from the fields.
10 With their own hands, loving mothers
have had to cook even their own children.
They ate their children
when my people were destroyed.
11 The Lord has become very angry.
He has poured out his burning anger.
He started a fire in Zion.
It burned its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth couldn’t believe what was happening.
Neither could any of the peoples of the world.
Enemies actually attacked and entered
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 It happened because Jerusalem’s prophets had sinned.
Her priests had done evil things.
All of them spilled the blood
of those who did what was right.
14 Now those prophets and priests
have to feel their way along the streets
as if they were blind.
The blood of those they killed has made them “unclean.”
So no one dares to touch their clothes.
15 “Go away! You are ‘unclean’!”
people cry out to them.
“Go away! Get out of here!
Don’t touch us!”
So they run away and wander around.
Then people among the nations say,
“They can’t stay here anymore.”
16 The Lord himself has scattered them.
He doesn’t watch over them anymore.
No one shows the priests any respect.
No one honors the elders.
17 And that’s not all. Our eyes grew tired.
We looked for help that never came.
We watched from our towers.
We kept looking for a nation that couldn’t save us.
18 People hunted us down no matter where we went.
We couldn’t even walk in our streets.
Our end was near, so we only had a few days to live.
Our end had come.
19 Those who were hunting us down were faster
than eagles in the sky.
They chased us over the mountains.
They hid and waited for us in the desert.
20 Zedekiah, the Lord’s anointed king, was our last hope.
But he was caught in their traps.
We thought he would keep us safe.
We expected to continue living among the nations.
21 People of Edom, be joyful.
You who live in the land of Uz, be glad.
But the cup of the Lord’s anger will also be passed to you.
Then you will become drunk.
Your clothes will be stripped off.
22 People of Zion, the time for you to be punished
will come to an end.
The Lord won’t keep you away from your land any longer.
But he will punish your sin, people of Edom.
He will show everyone the evil things you have done.
Lamentations 4
Contemporary English Version
The Punishment of Jerusalem
The Prophet Speaks:
4 The purest gold is ruined
and has lost its shine;
jewels from the temple
lie scattered in the streets.
2 These are Zion's people,
worth more than purest gold;
yet they are counted worthless
like dishes of clay.
3 Even jackals[a] nurse their young,
but my people are like ostriches
that abandon their own.
4 Babies are so thirsty
that their tongues are stuck
to the roof of the mouth.
Children go begging for food,
but no one gives them any.
5 All who ate expensive foods
lie starving in the streets;
those who grew up in luxury
now sit on trash heaps.
6 (A) My nation was punished worse
than the people of Sodom,
whose city was destroyed
in a flash without the help
of human hands.[b]
7 The leaders of Jerusalem
were purer than snow
and whiter than milk;
their bodies were healthy
and glowed like jewels.[c]
8 Now they are blacker than tar,
and no one recognizes them;
their skin clings to their bones
and is drier than firewood.
9 Being killed with a sword
is better than slowly
starving to death.
10 (B) Life in the city is so bad
that loving mothers have boiled
and eaten their own children.
11 The Lord was so fiercely angry
that he burned the city of Zion
to the ground.
12 Not a king on this earth
or the people of any nation
believed enemies could break
through her gates.
13 Jerusalem was punished because
her prophets and her priests
had sinned and caused the death
of innocent victims.
14 Yes, her prophets and priests
were covered with blood;
no one would come near them,
as they wandered
from street to street.
15 Instead, everyone shouted,
“Go away! Don't touch us!
You're filthy and unfit
to belong to God's people!”
So they had to leave
and become refugees.
But foreign nations told them,
“You can't stay here!”[d]
16 The Lord is the one
who sent them scattering,
and he has forgotten them.
No respect or kindness
will be shown
to the priests or leaders.
17 Our eyes became weary,
hopelessly looking
for help from a nation[e]
that could not save us.
18 Enemies hunted us down
on every public street.
Our time was up;
our doom was near.
19 They swooped down faster
than eagles from the sky.
They hunted for us in the hills
and set traps to catch us
out in the desert.
20 The Lord's chosen leader[f]
was our hope for survival!
We thought he would keep us safe
somewhere among the nations,
but even he was caught
in one of their traps.
21 You people of Edom
can celebrate now!
But your time will come
to suffer and stagger
around naked.
22 The people of Zion
have paid for their sins,
and the Lord will soon
let them return home.
But, people of Edom,
you will be punished,
and your sins exposed.
Footnotes
- 4.3 jackals: Desert animals related to wolves, but smaller.
- 4.6 hands: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 6.
- 4.7 jewels: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 7.
- 4.15 here: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 15.
- 4.17 nation: Egypt, a former ally of Judah.
- 4.20 chosen leader: Probably Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, taken away to Babylonia in 586 b.c.
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