Lamentations 4

Tree of Life Version

4 How dulled is the gold,
    how tarnished the fine gold.
The sacred gems are poured out
    at the corner of every street.
² The precious sons of Zion,
    once worth their weight in gold—
alas! now they are treated like clay jars,
    the work of a potter’s hands!
³ Even jackals offer their breast
    to nurse their young.
The daughter of my people has become cruel,
    like ostriches in the desert.
⁴ The nursing infant’s tongue clings
    to the roof of his mouth for thirst.
Little children ask for bread,
    but no one gives it t0 them.
⁵ Those who used to eat delicacies
    are desolate in the streets.
Those who were brought up in purple
    embrace trash heaps.
⁶ For the iniquities of the daughter of my people
    is greater than the sin of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment,^[a]
    yet no hands turned to her.
⁷ Purer than snow were her princes,^[b]
    whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
    their appearance like sapphire.
⁸ Their form has become darker than soot!
    They are not recognized in the street.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones,
    withered like a tree.
⁹ Better are those slain by the sword
    than those struck down by famine—
they waste away, racked with pain,
    for lack of fruits of the field.
¹⁰ The hands of compassionate women
    boiled their own children.
They became their food
    when the daughter of my people were destroyed.
¹¹ Adonai has vented His fury.
    He has poured out His burning anger.
Yes, He kindled a fire in Zion
    that devoured her foundations.
¹² The kings of the earth did not believe,
    nor did the inhabitations of the world,
that enemy and foe would enter
    the gates of Jerusalem.
¹³ Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets,
    and the iniquities of her kohanim,
who shed in her midst
    the blood of the tzadikim^[c].
¹⁴ They wander in the streets,
    like blind men.
They are so defiled with blood,
    no one can touch their garments.
¹⁵ “Turn away! Unclean!”
    They cry to them.
“Turn away, turn away! Don’t touch!”
    So they fled and wandered about.
People among the nations say,
    “They can stay here no longer.”
¹⁶ Adonai Himself has scattered them.
    He will look on them no more.
They did not respect the kohanim.
    They did not favor the elders.
¹⁷ Even now our eyes waste away
    looking in vain for our help.
From our towers we watched
    for a nation that could not save us.
¹⁸ They hunted our steps,
    so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near.
    Our days were numbered, for our end had come.
¹⁹ Our pursuers were swifter
    than eagles of the sky;
they pursued us over the mountains;
    they ambushed us in the wilderness.
²⁰ The anointed of Adonai,
    the breath of our nostrils,
was captured in their pits,
    of whom we have said,
“Under His shadow we will live among the nations.”
²¹ Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
    you who dwell in the land of Uz.
To you also will the cup be passed.
    You will be drunk and stripped naked.
²² O daughter of Zion,
    your punishment is accomplished;
    He will exile you no longer.
But, O daughter of Edom,
    He will punish your iniquity
    and uncover your sins.