Lamentations 4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 4
Miseries of the Besieged City[a]
1 How the gold has lost its luster,
the noble metal changed;
Jewels[b] lie scattered
at the corner of every street.
2 And Zion’s precious children,
worth their weight in gold—
How they are treated like clay jugs,
the work of any potter!(A)
3 Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people is as cruel
as the ostrich[c] in the wilderness.(B)
4 The tongue of the infant cleaves
to the roof of its mouth in thirst;
Children beg for bread,
but no one gives them a piece.
5 Those who feasted on delicacies
are abandoned in the streets;
Those who reclined on crimson[d]
now embrace dung heaps.(C)
6 The punishment of the daughter of my people
surpassed the penalty of Sodom,
Which was overthrown in an instant
with no hand laid on it.(D)
7 Her princes were brighter than snow,
whiter than milk,
Their bodies more ruddy than coral,
their beauty like the sapphire.
8 Now their appearance is blacker than soot,
they go unrecognized in the streets;
Their skin has shrunk on their bones,
and become dry as wood.(E)
9 Better for those pierced by the sword
than for those pierced by hunger,
Better for those who bleed from wounds
than for those who lack food.
10 The hands of compassionate women
have boiled their own children!
They became their food
when the daughter of my people was shattered.(F)
11 The Lord has exhausted his anger,
poured out his blazing wrath;
He has kindled a fire in Zion
that has consumed her foundations.(G)
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the world’s inhabitants,
That foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Except for the sins of her prophets
and the crimes of her priests,
Who poured out in her midst
the blood of the just.(H)
14 They staggered blindly in the streets,
defiled with blood,
So that people could not touch
even their garments:(I)
15 “Go away! Unclean!” they cried to them,
“Away, away, do not touch!”
If they went away and wandered,
it would be said among the nations,
“They can no longer live here!
16 The presence of the Lord was their portion,
but he no longer looks upon them.
The priests are shown no regard,
the elders, no mercy.
17 Even now our eyes are worn out,
searching in vain for help;
From our watchtower we have watched
for a nation[e] unable to save.
18 They dogged our every step,
we could not walk in our squares;
Our end drew near, our time was up;
yes, our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than eagles in the sky,
In the mountains they were hot on our trail,
they ambushed us in the wilderness.(J)
20 The Lord’s anointed—our very lifebreath!—[f]
was caught in their snares,
He in whose shade we thought
to live among the nations.(K)
21 Rejoice and gloat, daughter Edom,
dwelling in the land of Uz,[g]
The cup will pass to you as well;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself naked!(L)
22 Your punishment is completed, daughter Zion,
the Lord will not prolong your exile;
The Lord will punish your iniquity, daughter Edom,
will lay bare your sins.(M)
Footnotes
- 4:1–22 This chapter returns to the focus of chaps. 1 and 2, namely the horrors of a siege. Unlike chaps. 1 and 2, however, the character of personified Zion never interrupts the voice of the poet to protest her abject state. As a result, the emotion of the poem is less intense, while at the same time seeming more grim on account of its lack of petition to the Lord.
- 4:1–2 Jewels: lit., “holy stones.” These precious things designate the children who are abandoned, starving, and killed in the siege of Jerusalem (cf. Zec 9:16). Another explanation is that these are the stones of the destroyed Temple.
- 4:3 Cruel as the ostrich: see note on Jb 39:14–16. Jerusalem, in her distress, has abandoned her children.
- 4:5 Crimson: a sign of luxury. Tyrian purple, a red-purple or blue-purple dye produced from shellfish, was very expensive and the only colorfast dye in the ancient Near East. Thus purple or crimson cloth was available only to the wealthy.
- 4:17 A nation: probably Egypt, which failed to give effective aid against Babylon.
- 4:20 Our very lifebreath: lit., “the breath of our nostrils,” that is, the king. This expression occurs in Egyptian texts of the late second millennium B.C., and may have survived as a royal epithet in the Jerusalem court. After the disaster of 598 B.C. (2 Kgs 24:1–17), Jerusalem could have hoped to live in peace amidst her neighbors; but they (vv. 21–22) as well as Babylon turned against her to ensure her total devastation in 587 B.C.
- 4:21 Rejoice: the address is sarcastic, since Edom (where Uz may have been located) ravaged the land after the fall of Jerusalem (cf. Ps 137).
Lamentaciones 4
Nueva Biblia de las Américas
Sufrimientos a causa del sitio
4 ¡Cómo se ha ennegrecido el oro,
Cómo ha cambiado el oro puro!
Esparcidas están las piedras sagradas
Por las esquinas de todas las calles(A).
2 Los hijos preciados de Sión,
Que valían su peso en oro puro,
¡Cómo son tenidos por vasijas de barro,
Obra de manos de alfarero(B)!
3 Aun los chacales dan las ubres,
Dan de mamar a sus crías(C);
Pero la hija de mi pueblo[a] se ha vuelto cruel(D)
Como los avestruces(E) en el desierto.
4 La lengua del niño de pecho se le pega
Al paladar por la sed(F);
Los pequeños piden pan(G),
Pero no hay quien se lo reparta.
5 Los que comían manjares
Andan desolados por las calles(H);
Los que se criaron entre púrpura
Abrazan cenizales.
6 La iniquidad de la hija de mi pueblo
Es mayor que el pecado de Sodoma(I),
Que fue derribada(J) en un instante
Sin que manos actuaran contra ella.
7 Sus consagrados[b] eran más puros que la nieve(K),
Más blancos que la leche,
Más rojizos de cuerpo que los corales,
Como el zafiro(L) era su apariencia.
8 Más negro que el hollín es su aspecto,
No se les reconoce por las calles;
Se les ha pegado la piel a sus huesos(M),
Se ha marchitado, se ha vuelto como madera(N).
9 Más dichosos son los que mueren a espada
Que los que mueren de hambre,
Que se consumen(O), extenuados,
Por falta de los frutos de los campos(P).
10 Las manos de mujeres compasivas
Cocieron a sus propios hijos(Q),
Que les sirvieron de comida(R)
A causa de la destrucción de la hija de mi pueblo[c].
11 El Señor ha cumplido Su furor,
Ha derramado Su ardiente ira.
Ha prendido un fuego(S) en Sión
Que ha consumido sus cimientos(T).
12 No creyeron los reyes de la tierra,
Ni ninguno de los habitantes del mundo(U),
Que el adversario y el enemigo pudieran entrar
Por las puertas de Jerusalén(V).
13 Pero a causa de los pecados de sus profetas
Y de las iniquidades de sus sacerdotes,
Quienes derramaron en medio de ella
La sangre(W) de los justos(X),
14 Vagaron ciegos por las calles(Y),
Manchados de sangre(Z),
Sin que nadie pudiera tocar sus vestidos(AA).
15 «¡Apártense! ¡Inmundos!», gritaban de sí mismos(AB).
«¡Apártense, apártense, no nos toquen!».
Así que huyeron y vagaron(AC).
Entre las naciones se decía:
«No seguirán residiendo entre nosotros».
16 La presencia del Señor los dispersó,
No volverá a mirarlos.
Ellos no honraron a los sacerdotes(AD),
Ni tuvieron piedad de los ancianos.
17 Aun nuestros ojos desfallecían,
Buscar ayuda fue inútil(AE).
En nuestro velar hemos aguardado(AF)
A una nación incapaz de salvar.
18 Ponían trampas a nuestros pasos(AG)
Para que no anduviéramos por nuestras calles.
Nuestro fin se acercaba,
Se cumplieron nuestros días,
Porque había llegado nuestro fin(AH).
19 Nuestros perseguidores eran más veloces
Que las águilas del cielo;
Por los montes nos persiguieron,
En el desierto nos tendieron emboscadas(AI).
20 El aliento de nuestras vidas(AJ), el ungido del Señor(AK),
Fue atrapado en sus fosos,
Aquel de quien habíamos dicho(AL): «A su sombra(AM)
Viviremos entre las naciones».
21 Regocíjate y alégrate, hija de Edom(AN),
La que habitas en la tierra de Uz;
También a ti llegará la copa(AO),
Te embriagarás y te desnudarás.
22 Se ha completado el castigo de tu iniquidad, hija de Sión:
No volverá Él a desterrarte(AP);
Mas castigará tu iniquidad, hija de Edom;
Pondrá al descubierto tus pecados(AQ).
Lamentations 4
New International Reader's Version
4 Look at how the gold has lost its brightness!
See how dull the fine gold has become!
The sacred jewels are scattered
at every street corner.
2 The priceless children of Zion
were worth their weight in gold.
But now they are thought of as clay pots
made by the hands of a potter.
3 Even wild dogs
nurse their young pups.
But my people are as mean
as ostriches in the desert.
4 When the babies get thirsty,
their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths.
When the children beg for bread,
no one gives them any.
5 Those who once ate fine food
are dying in the streets.
Those who wore royal clothes
are now lying on piles of trash.
6 My people have been punished
more than Sodom was.
It was destroyed in a moment.
No one offered it a helping hand.
7 Jerusalem’s princes were brighter than snow.
They were whiter than milk.
Their bodies were redder than rubies.
They looked like lapis lazuli.
8 But now they are blacker than coal.
No one even recognizes them in the streets.
Their skin is wrinkled on their bones.
It has become as dry as a stick.
9 Those killed by swords are better off
than those who die of hunger.
Those who are hungry waste away to nothing.
They don’t have any food from the fields.
10 With their own hands, loving mothers
have had to cook even their own children.
They ate their children
when my people were destroyed.
11 The Lord has become very angry.
He has poured out his burning anger.
He started a fire in Zion.
It burned its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth couldn’t believe what was happening.
Neither could any of the peoples of the world.
Enemies actually attacked and entered
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 It happened because Jerusalem’s prophets had sinned.
Her priests had done evil things.
All of them spilled the blood
of those who did what was right.
14 Now those prophets and priests
have to feel their way along the streets
as if they were blind.
The blood of those they killed has made them “unclean.”
So no one dares to touch their clothes.
15 “Go away! You are ‘unclean’!”
people cry out to them.
“Go away! Get out of here!
Don’t touch us!”
So they run away and wander around.
Then people among the nations say,
“They can’t stay here anymore.”
16 The Lord himself has scattered them.
He doesn’t watch over them anymore.
No one shows the priests any respect.
No one honors the elders.
17 And that’s not all. Our eyes grew tired.
We looked for help that never came.
We watched from our towers.
We kept looking for a nation that couldn’t save us.
18 People hunted us down no matter where we went.
We couldn’t even walk in our streets.
Our end was near, so we only had a few days to live.
Our end had come.
19 Those who were hunting us down were faster
than eagles in the sky.
They chased us over the mountains.
They hid and waited for us in the desert.
20 Zedekiah, the Lord’s anointed king, was our last hope.
But he was caught in their traps.
We thought he would keep us safe.
We expected to continue living among the nations.
21 People of Edom, be joyful.
You who live in the land of Uz, be glad.
But the cup of the Lord’s anger will also be passed to you.
Then you will become drunk.
Your clothes will be stripped off.
22 People of Zion, the time for you to be punished
will come to an end.
The Lord won’t keep you away from your land any longer.
But he will punish your sin, people of Edom.
He will show everyone the evil things you have done.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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