4 Look! The gold has stopped shining!
Look how the best gold has changed!
The valuable stones from the Holy Place lie at the end of every street!
² Jerusalem's men were valuable, like the best gold.^[b]
Now they lie in the streets, because God has broken them.
They are like common pots that a potter makes.^[c]
3 Even the jackals feed their babies at their breasts.
But Jerusalem's young women have become cruel.
They are like ostriches that leave their eggs in the desert.^[d]
4 The mouths of the babies in Jerusalem are completely dry, because they are so thirsty.
And the young children ask for food, but nobody gives them anything to eat.
⁵ There are people here who had been very rich.
They ate the best foods, but now they are hungry.
Now they lie in the streets with nothing to eat.
They wore the best clothes, but now they sit in the ashes.
⁶ God has punished my people.
He punished us more than he punished Sodom's people.
God destroyed that city in a moment, and nobody was there to help them.^[e]
7 In past times, the leaders of Jerusalem were more pure than very white snow.
They were strong and healthy.
Their bodies seemed to shine like valuable stones.
⁸ Now their faces are dirty and black.
People see them in the streets, but they do not recognize them.
Their skin hangs on their bones.
Their skin is as dry as wood for a fire.^[f]
9 Our enemies have killed many people with long knives.
It is better for those dead people
than for the people who have no food.
They are very hungry.
And they die slowly because they have nothing to eat.^[g]
10 Women who once were very kind
have boiled their own children.
Their children became their food,
when the enemies were destroying the city.^[h]
11 The Lord was very angry.
So he sent fire to burn Zion.
It destroyed the whole city, even the strongest houses.
¹² The kings in the other cities on earth could not believe it.^[i]
None of the people on earth could believe it.
They thought that no enemy could go through Jerusalem's gates.
¹³ God punished Jerusalem and its people because their leaders sinned.
God did not like the things that their prophets and priests did.
They had caused good people to die.
¹⁴ Those leaders walked in the streets like men who cannot see.
There was blood on their clothes and everybody was afraid to touch them.
¹⁵ ‘Go away!’ people shouted at them.
‘Do not touch us!
You are too dirty to be among God's people!’
So they went away to other countries, but the people there did not want them.
‘They cannot stay here with us!’ those people said.
¹⁶ The Lord himself has sent them away.
He will not take care of them any longer.
Nobody respects the priests.
Nobody is kind to the leaders.^[j]
17 Our eyes became red as we watched.
We were looking for help, but it did not come.
The people from other countries could not save us.
¹⁸ Enemies ran after us, so that we could not go into the streets any longer.
We knew that we would die soon.
We could not live like this any longer.
¹⁹ The enemy was quicker than big birds that fly in the air.
They followed us so that they could catch us out on the mountains.
They hid and they waited for us in the desert.
²⁰ The Lord had chosen a man to be our king.
We thought that he would save us.
‘Under his shadow we will live among the other countries,’ we had always said.
But the enemy caught him.^[k]
21 You, Edom's people, live in the country called Uz. And you are happy now.
But at a future time, God will hurt you too.
The enemy will take away everything that you have.
So you will become like drunks.
²² God has finished punishing Zion's people.
He will let them return to their homes soon.
But you, Edom's people, God will certainly punish you.^[l]
He will discover everything that you have done wrong.