Lamentations 4
Common English Bible
The people’s suffering
4 Oh, no!
Gold is tarnished;[a] even the purest gold is changed.
Sacred jewels are scattered on every street corner.
2 Zion’s precious children, once valued as pure gold—
oh no!—now they are worth no more than clay pots made by a potter.
3 Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young.
But the daughter of my people has become cruel, like desert ostriches.
4 The baby’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth, thirsty.
Children ask for bread, beg for it—but there is no bread.
5 Those who once ate gourmet food now tremble in the streets.
Those who wore the finest purple clothes now cling to piles of garbage.
6 Greater was the punishment[b] of the daughter of my people than Sodom’s penalty,[c]
which was quickly overthrown without any hand-wringing.[d]
7 Her nazirites were purer than snow; they were more dazzling than milk.
Their limbs were redder than coral; their bodies were sapphire.
8 But their appearance grew darker than soot; they weren’t recognized in the streets.
Their skin shriveled on their bones; it became dry like wood.
9 Things were better for those stabbed by the sword than for those stabbed by famine—
those who bled away, pierced, lacking food from the field.
10 The hands of loving women boiled their own children
to become their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 The Lord let loose his fury; he poured out his fierce anger.
He started a fire in Zion; it licked up its foundations.
12 The earth’s rulers didn’t believe it—neither did any who inhabit the world—
that either enemy or adversary could enter Jerusalem’s gates.
13 It was because of her prophets’ sins, her priests’ iniquities,
those who shed righteous blood in the middle of the city.
14 People wandered blindly in the streets, polluted with blood.
No one would even touch their clothing.
15 “Go away! Unclean!” was shouted at them, “Go away! Away! Don’t touch!”
So they fled and wandered around. The nations said, “They can’t stay here anymore.”
16 It was the Lord’s presence that scattered them;[e] he no longer notices them.
They didn’t honor the priests’ presence; they didn’t favor the elders.
17 Our eyes continually failed, looking for some help, but for nothing.
From our watchtower we watched for a nation that doesn’t save.
18 Our steps were tracked; we could no longer walk in our streets.
Our end had drawn near; our days were done—our end had definitely come.
19 Our hunters were faster than airborne eagles.
They chased us up the mountains; they ambushed us in the wilderness.
20 The Lord’s chosen one, the very breath in our lungs, was caught in their traps—
the one we used to talk about, saying, “Under his protection we will live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be happy, Daughter Edom, you who live in the land of Uz.
But this cup will pass over to you too. You will get drunk on it. You will be stripped naked.
22 Your punishment[f] is over, Daughter Zion; God won’t expose you anymore.
But he will attend to your punishment, Daughter Edom; he will expose your sins.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:1 Heb uncertain
- Lamentations 4:6 Or iniquity
- Lamentations 4:6 Or sin
- Lamentations 4:6 Heb uncertain
- Lamentations 4:16 Heb uncertain
- Lamentations 4:22 Or iniquity
Lamentations 4
Good News Translation
Jerusalem after Its Fall
4 Our glittering gold has grown dull;
the stones of the Temple lie scattered in the streets.
2 Zion's young people were as precious to us as gold,
but now they are treated like common clay pots.
3 Even a mother wolf will nurse her cubs,
but my people are like ostriches, cruel to their young.
4 They let their babies die of hunger and thirst;
children are begging for food that no one will give them.
5 People who once ate the finest foods die starving in the streets;
those raised in luxury are pawing through garbage for food.
6 (A)My people have been punished even more than the inhabitants of Sodom,
which met a sudden downfall at the hands of God.
7 Our princes[a] were undefiled and pure as snow,
vigorous and strong, glowing with health.
8 Now they lie unknown in the streets, their faces blackened in death;
their skin, dry as wood, has shriveled on their bones.
9 Those who died in the war were better off than those who died later,
who starved slowly to death, with no food to keep them alive.
10 (B)The disaster that came to my people brought horror;
loving mothers boiled their own children for food.
11 The Lord turned loose the full force of his fury;
he lit a fire in Zion that burned it to the ground.
12 No one anywhere, not even rulers of foreign nations,
believed that any invader could enter Jerusalem's gates.
13 But it happened, because her prophets sinned and her priests were guilty
of causing the death of innocent people.
14 Her leaders wandered through the streets as though blind,
so stained with blood that no one would touch them.
15 “Get away!” people shouted. “You're defiled! Don't touch me!”
So they wandered from nation to nation, welcomed by no one.
16 The Lord had no more concern for them; he scattered them himself.
He showed no regard for our priests and leaders.
17 For help that never came, we looked until we could look no longer.
We kept waiting for help from a nation that had none to give.
18 The enemy was watching for us; we could not even walk in the streets.
Our days were over; the end had come.
19 Swifter than eagles swooping from the sky, they chased us down.
They tracked us down in the hills; they took us by surprise in the desert.
20 They captured the source of our life, the king the Lord had chosen,
the one we had trusted to protect us from every invader.
21 Laugh on, people of Edom and Uz; be glad while you can.
Your disaster is coming too; you too will stagger naked in shame.
22 Zion has paid for her sin; the Lord will not keep us in exile any longer.
But Edom, the Lord will punish you; he will expose your guilty acts.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:7 princes; or Nazirites.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
