Lamentations 4
Names of God Bible
The Prophet Speaks Out: Zion’s Suffering Was Worse Than Sodom’s
4 [a]“Look how the gold has become tarnished!
The fine gold has changed!
The sacred stones are scattered at every street corner.
2 “Zion’s precious children, who are worth their weight in fine gold,
are now treated like clay pots,
like those made by a potter’s hands.
3 Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young,
but the women of my people are as cruel as wild ostriches.
4 The tongues of nursing infants stick to the roofs of their mouths
because of their thirst.
Little children beg for bread,
but no one will break off a piece for them.
5 Those who used to eat delicacies are now destitute in the streets.
Those who used to wear expensive clothes now pick through piles of garbage.
6 The punishment for my people’s wickedness has been more severe
than the punishment for the sins of Sodom.
Sodom was destroyed instantly, without one human hand touching it.
7 Zion’s princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk.
Their bodies were more pink than coral.
Their hair was like sapphires.
8 Their faces are now blacker than soot.
No one recognizes them on the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones.
It has become as dry as bark.
9 Those who were killed with swords are better off
than those who are dying from starvation.
Those who were stabbed bled to death.
The others are dying because there is nothing in the fields to eat.
10 The hands of loving mothers cooked their own children.
The children were used for food by my people
when they were being destroyed by a blockade.
11 Yahweh’s fury has accomplished his purpose.
He unleashed his burning anger.
He started a fire in Zion that even burned its foundations.
12 Neither the kings of the earth nor anyone living on earth could believe
that enemies or invaders would ever get through the gates of Jerusalem.
13 They got through because of the sins of Jerusalem’s prophets
and the crimes of its priests,
who spilled the blood of righteous people within it.
14 My people staggered blindly through the streets.
They were so contaminated with bloodstains
that no one would touch their clothes.
15 ‘Get away! You’re unclean,’[b] people yelled at them.
‘Get away! Get away! Don’t touch anyone.’
When they fled and wandered around,
the people of the nations said, ‘They can’t stay here any longer.’
16 Yahweh himself has scattered them.
He will no longer look favorably on them.
They no longer respected the priests,
nor did they honor their older leaders.”
The People of Zion Speak Out
17 “We are still straining our eyes, trying in vain to find help.
We waited and waited for a nation that didn’t save us.
18 The enemy kept tracking us down,
so we couldn’t even go out into the streets.
Our end was near.
Our time was up.
Our end had come.
19 Those who were hunting us were faster than eagles in the sky.
They chased us in the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.
20 The person Yahweh anointed as king, who is the breath of our life,
was caught in their pits.
We had thought that we would live
in our king’s shadow among the nations.”
The Prophet Speaks Out: Be Warned about Edom’s Impending Doom
21 “Rejoice and be glad, people of Edom, inhabitants of the country of Uz.
The cup of the Lord’s fury will be passed to you next.
You’ll get drunk and take off all your clothes.
22 People of Zion, the punishment for your wickedness will end.
Yahweh will not let you remain in exile.
People of Edom, he will punish you for your wickedness.
He will expose your sins.”
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:1 Chapter 4 is a poem in Hebrew alphabetical order.
- Lamentations 4:15 “Unclean” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God.
Lamentations 4
English Standard Version
The Holy Stones Lie Scattered
4 (A)How the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
(B)at the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
worth their weight in (C)fine gold,
how they are regarded as (D)earthen pots,
the work of a potter's hands!
3 Even jackals offer the breast;
they nurse their young;
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the nursing infant (E)sticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
(F)the children beg for food,
but no one gives to them.
5 Those who once feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
(G)those who were brought up in purple
embrace ash heaps.
6 (H)For the chastisement[a] of the daughter of my people has been greater
than the punishment[b] of Sodom,
(I)which was overthrown in a moment,
and no hands were wrung for her.[c]
7 Her princes were purer than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
the beauty of their form[d] was like sapphire.[e]
8 (J)Now their face is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.
9 Happier were the victims of the sword
than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away, pierced
by lack of the fruits of the field.
10 (K)The hands of (L)compassionate women
(M)have boiled their own children;
(N)they became their food
during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 (O)The Lord gave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger,
and (P)he kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.
12 (Q)The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 This was for (R)the sins of her prophets
and (S)the iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.
14 (T)They wandered, blind, through the streets;
they were so defiled with blood
(U)that no one was able to touch
their garments.
15 “Away! (V)Unclean!” people cried at them.
“Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
people said among the nations,
“They shall stay with us no longer.”
16 (W)The Lord himself[f] has scattered them;
he will regard them no more;
(X)no honor was shown to the priests,
(Y)no favor to the elders.
17 (Z)Our eyes failed, ever watching
(AA)vainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for (AB)a nation which could not save.
18 (AC)They dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
(AD)our end drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were (AE)swifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 (AF)The breath of our nostrils, (AG)the Lord's anointed,
was captured (AH)in their pits,
of whom we said, (AI)“Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”
21 (AJ)Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in (AK)the land of Uz;
but to you also (AL)the cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
22 (AM)The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer;[g]
but (AN)your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:6 Or iniquity
- Lamentations 4:6 Or sin
- Lamentations 4:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Lamentations 4:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Lamentations 4:7 Hebrew lapis lazuli
- Lamentations 4:16 Hebrew The face of the Lord
- Lamentations 4:22 Or he will not exile you again
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
