4 How ^(A)dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are spilled out
At the ^[a]corner of every street.

¹² The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of ^(A)the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Would ^(B)enter the gates of Jerusalem.
¹³ Because of the sins of her ^(C)prophets
And the wrongdoings of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The ^(D)blood of the righteous,

¹⁷ Yet our eyes failed,
Looking for ^[a]help was ^(A)useless;
At our observation point we have watched
For a ^(B)nation that could not save.

²⁰ The ^(A)breath of our nostrils, the ^(B)Lord’s anointed,
Was ^(C)captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “^[a]In his ^(D)shadow
We shall live among the nations.”