Lamentations 4:11-22

New Living Translation

¹¹ But now the anger of the Lord is satisfied.
    His fierce anger has been poured out.
He started a fire in Jerusalem^[a]
    that burned the city to its foundations.

¹² Not a king in all the earth—
    no one in all the world—
would have believed that an enemy
    could march through the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³ Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets
    and the sins of her priests,
who defiled the city
    by shedding innocent blood.

¹⁴ They wandered blindly
    through the streets,
so defiled by blood
    that no one dared touch them.

¹⁵ “Get away!” the people shouted at them.
    “You’re defiled! Don’t touch us!”
So they fled to distant lands
    and wandered among foreign nations,
    but none would let them stay.

¹⁶ The Lord himself has scattered them,
    and he no longer helps them.
People show no respect for the priests
    and no longer honor the leaders.

¹⁷ We looked in vain for our allies
    to come and save us,
but we were looking to nations
    that could not help us.

¹⁸ We couldn’t go into the streets
    without danger to our lives.
Our end was near; our days were numbered.
    We were doomed!

¹⁹ Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight.
    If we fled to the mountains, they found us.
If we hid in the wilderness,
    they were waiting for us there.

²⁰ Our king—the Lord’s anointed, the very life of our nation—
    was caught in their snares.
We had thought that his shadow
    would protect us against any nation on earth!

²¹ Are you rejoicing in the land of Uz,
    O people of Edom?
But you, too, must drink from the cup of the Lord’s anger.
    You, too, will be stripped naked in your drunkenness.

²² O beautiful Jerusalem,^[b] your punishment will end;
    you will soon return from exile.
But Edom, your punishment is just beginning;
    soon your many sins will be exposed.