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Lamentations 4
EasyEnglish Bible
Lamentations 4
EasyEnglish Bible
God punishes his people[a]
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.
Footnotes
- 4:1 In this chapter, Jeremiah continues to speak.
- 4:2 Jerusalem's people were valuable to God, as gold is valuable. Perhaps the ‘valuable stones’ from the Holy Place were like Jerusalem's leaders and priests. Certainly the enemy had destroyed and burnt the Holy Place there. They broke the beautiful stones from its walls, and those stones were lying in the street.
- 4:2 People did not think that ordinary pots were valuable.
- 4:3 Ostriches are large birds that lay their eggs in the sand. See Job 39:14-16.
- 4:6 Sodom's people were very bad and they did not obey God. See Genesis 18:16—19:29. They all died quickly.
- 4:8 A long time ago, these leaders had been extra careful to be clean. They wanted to do what God wanted them to do. People thought that these leaders were very special. But now, they are the same as everybody else in the streets.
- 4:9 Jerusalem's people knew a lot about God, but they also did many very bad things. They died more slowly. They were in pain for a long time before they died.
- 4:10 These people had done some very bad things in the bad times when they were very sad and hungry. But God wants them to learn his ways again.
- 4:12 These other people had seen or they knew about Jerusalem's strong walls. They also knew that Jerusalem and Jerusalem's people were special to God. So they were very surprised about what happened to the city.
- 4:16 Some people were as bad as their leaders, the priests and the prophets. It was sad that good people in Jerusalem also died because of other people's sins.
- 4:20 Nobody could help them if God was against them. The king was Zedekiah. He was the last king of Judah. Jeremiah tells us about him in the other book that he wrote. (See Jeremiah 39:1-8.) Israel's people thought that their kings were very special. They thought that God had given those kings to them.
- 4:22 God will punish Edom's people because they have been cruel to God's people. Edom's people did all die. There is no country called Edom now.
Klagovisorna 4
Swedish New Living Bible (Nya Levande Bibeln)
Klagovisorna 4
Swedish New Living Bible (Nya Levande Bibeln)
Guds vrede stillas
4 Vårt finaste guld har förlorat sin glans! Ädelstenar ligger utspridda på gatorna!
2 Våra finaste ungdomar, vårt guld, behandlas som billig lera.
3-4 Till och med schakalerna ger sina ungar mat, men det gör inte mitt folk Israel. De visar samma brist på omsorg som öknens strutsar. Barnens tungor torkar fast vid gommen på grund av törst, för det finns inte en droppe vatten kvar. Små barn ropar efter bröd, men det finns ingen som kan ge dem något.
5 De som vant sig vid delikatesser går nu omkring som tiggare på gatorna för att få tag på något ätbart. De som vuxit upp i palats går nu omkring och krafsar i soptunnor.
6 Mitt folks synd är större än Sodoms. Där kom förödelsen på ett ögonblick, och det fanns ingen räddning.
7 Våra furstar var sunda och välmående,
8 men nu är deras ansikten svarta som sot. Ingen kan längre känna igen dem. Deras hud stramar torr och hård kring benen.
9 De som dödades av svärd har det bättre än dessa, som sakta dör av svält.
10 En gång omtänksamma mödrar har dödat och ätit sina egna barn för att överleva belägringen.
11 Men nu är Herrens vrede tillfredsställd. Han har släppt loss sin oerhörda vrede. Han tände en eld i Jerusalem och brände ner staden till grunden.
12 Inte en kung på hela jorden, ingen i hela världen, skulle kunna komma in genom Jerusalems portar.
13 Men ändå tillät Gud detta på grund av profeternas och prästernas synd. De orenade staden genom att utgjuta oskyldigas blod.
14 Nu stapplar de omkring blinda på gatorna. De har oskyldigt blod på sina händer, och ingen vill komma vid dem.
15 Försvinn härifrån! skriker folket åt dem. Ni är orena! De flyr till avlägsna länder och vandrar omkring bland främlingar, men ingen vill låta dem stanna.
16 Herren själv vill inte ha med dessa präster och äldste att göra.
17 Vi trodde att våra bundsförvanter skulle komma och hjälpa oss, men vi väntade förgäves. De lyfte inte ett finger för att hjälpa oss.
18 Vi kan inte gå ut på gatan utan fara för livet. Slutet är nära. Våra dagar är räknade. Vi är dömda.
19 Våra fiender är snabbare än örnar. Om vi flyr till bergen hittar de oss. Om vi gömmer oss i ödemarken, väntar de på oss där.
20 Vår kung, Herrens smorde, fångades i deras snaror. Ja, till och med vår mäktige kung! Vi skröt om att vi under hans beskydd skulle kunna hålla stånd mot vilket folk som helst på jorden.
21 Gläder du dig, Edoms folk, i landet Us? Du ska också få känna av Herrens fruktansvärda vrede.
22 Israels straff och tiden i landsflykt är över, men nu ska han straffa Edom för dess synd.
Lamentations 4
King James Version
Lamentations 4
King James Version
4 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.
7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:
8 Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.
9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 The Lord hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.
12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
13 For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,
14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.
15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.
16 The anger of the Lord hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.
17 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.
18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.
Lamentations 4
New International Version
Lamentations 4
New International Version
4 [a]How the gold has lost its luster,
the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
at every street corner.(A)
2 How the precious children of Zion,(B)
once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my people have become heartless
like ostriches in the desert.(C)
4 Because of thirst(D) the infant’s tongue
sticks to the roof of its mouth;(E)
the children beg for bread,
but no one gives it to them.(F)
5 Those who once ate delicacies
are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple(G)
now lie on ash heaps.(H)
6 The punishment of my people
is greater than that of Sodom,(I)
which was overthrown in a moment
without a hand turned to help her.
7 Their princes were brighter than snow
and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
their appearance like lapis lazuli.
8 But now they are blacker(J) than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;(K)
it has become as dry as a stick.
9 Those killed by the sword are better off
than those who die of famine;(L)
racked with hunger, they waste away
for lack of food from the field.(M)
10 With their own hands compassionate women
have cooked their own children,(N)
who became their food
when my people were destroyed.
11 The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;(O)
he has poured out(P) his fierce anger.(Q)
He kindled a fire(R) in Zion
that consumed her foundations.(S)
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the peoples of the world,
that enemies and foes could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.(T)
13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,(U)
who shed within her
the blood(V) of the righteous.
14 Now they grope through the streets
as if they were blind.(W)
They are so defiled with blood(X)
that no one dares to touch their garments.
15 “Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them.
“Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”
When they flee and wander(Y) about,
people among the nations say,
“They can stay here no longer.”(Z)
16 The Lord himself has scattered them;
he no longer watches over them.(AA)
The priests are shown no honor,
the elders(AB) no favor.(AC)
17 Moreover, our eyes failed,
looking in vain(AD) for help;(AE)
from our towers we watched
for a nation(AF) that could not save us.
18 People stalked us at every step,
so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near, our days were numbered,
for our end had come.(AG)
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than eagles(AH) in the sky;
they chased us(AI) over the mountains
and lay in wait for us in the desert.(AJ)
20 The Lord’s anointed,(AK) our very life breath,
was caught in their traps.(AL)
We thought that under his shadow(AM)
we would live among the nations.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
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