Lamentations 4
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh’s Wrath Spent
Aleph
4 How (A)dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are poured out
At the head of every street.
Beth
2 The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against fine gold,
How they are regarded as (B)earthen jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
Gimel
3 Even (C)jackals offer the breast;
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has become (D)cruel
Like (E)ostriches in the wilderness.
Daleth
4 The (F)tongue of the nursing baby cleaves
To the roof of its mouth because of (G)thirst;
The infants (H)ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
He
5 Those who ate (I)delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those [a]reared in crimson
Embrace ash pits.
Vav
6 So the [b]iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the [c](J)sin of Sodom,
Which was (K)overthrown as in a moment,
And no hands [d]whirled toward her.
Zayin
7 Her [e]Nazirites were (L)purer than snow;
They were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in [f]body than corals,
Their polishing was like [g](M)lapis lazuli.
Heth
8 Their form is (N)blacker than soot;
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their (O)skin is shriveled on their bones;
It is withered, it has become like wood.
Teth
9 Better are those (P)pierced through with the sword
Than those pierced through with hunger;
For their life (Q)flows away, being stricken
For lack of the produce of [h]the field.
Yodh
10 The hands of compassionate women
(R)Boiled their own children;
They became (S)food for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Kaph
11 Yahweh has (T)spent His wrath;
He has poured out His burning anger;
And He has (U)kindled a fire in Zion
Which has devoured its foundations.
Lamedh
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of (V)the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Could (W)enter the gates of Jerusalem.
Mem
13 Because of the sins of her (X)prophets
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The (Y)blood of the righteous;
Nun
14 They wandered, (Z)blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with (AA)blood
So that no one could touch their (AB)garments.
Samekh
15 “Depart! (AC)Unclean!” [i]they cried of themselves.
“Depart, depart, do not touch!”
So they (AD)fled and wandered;
Men among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to sojourn with us.”
Pe
16 The presence of Yahweh has eradicated them;
He will not continue to look at them;
They did not [j](AE)honor the priests;
They did not favor the elders.
Ayin
17 Yet our eyes were spent,
Looking for [k]help was (AF)vanity;
In our watching we have watched
For a (AG)nation that could not save.
Tsadhe
18 They (AH)hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our open squares;
Our (AI)end drew near,
Our days were [l]finished,
For our end had come.
Qoph
19 Our pursuers were (AJ)swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They hotly pursued us on the mountains;
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
Resh
20 The (AK)breath of our nostrils, the (AL)anointed of Yahweh,
Was (AM)captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “Under his (AN)shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
Sin
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of (AO)Edom,
Who inhabits the land of Uz;
But the (AP)cup will pass on to you as well;
You will become drunk and make yourself naked.
Tav
22 The punishment of your iniquity has come (AQ)to an end, O daughter of Zion;
He will exile you no longer.
But He (AR)will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:5 Lit established in crimson
- Lamentations 4:6 Or punishment for iniquity
- Lamentations 4:6 Or punishment for sin
- Lamentations 4:6 Or wrung over her
- Lamentations 4:7 Or dedicated ones
- Lamentations 4:7 Lit bones
- Lamentations 4:7 Heb sappir
- Lamentations 4:9 Lit my fields
- Lamentations 4:15 Or they (men) cried to them
- Lamentations 4:16 Lit lift up the faces of
- Lamentations 4:17 Lit our help
- Lamentations 4:18 Lit full
Lamentations 4
Contemporary English Version
The Punishment of Jerusalem
The Prophet Speaks:
4 The purest gold is ruined
and has lost its shine;
jewels from the temple
lie scattered in the streets.
2 These are Zion's people,
worth more than purest gold;
yet they are counted worthless
like dishes of clay.
3 Even jackals[a] nurse their young,
but my people are like ostriches
that abandon their own.
4 Babies are so thirsty
that their tongues are stuck
to the roof of the mouth.
Children go begging for food,
but no one gives them any.
5 All who ate expensive foods
lie starving in the streets;
those who grew up in luxury
now sit on trash heaps.
6 (A) My nation was punished worse
than the people of Sodom,
whose city was destroyed
in a flash without the help
of human hands.[b]
7 The leaders of Jerusalem
were purer than snow
and whiter than milk;
their bodies were healthy
and glowed like jewels.[c]
8 Now they are blacker than tar,
and no one recognizes them;
their skin clings to their bones
and is drier than firewood.
9 Being killed with a sword
is better than slowly
starving to death.
10 (B) Life in the city is so bad
that loving mothers have boiled
and eaten their own children.
11 The Lord was so fiercely angry
that he burned the city of Zion
to the ground.
12 Not a king on this earth
or the people of any nation
believed enemies could break
through her gates.
13 Jerusalem was punished because
her prophets and her priests
had sinned and caused the death
of innocent victims.
14 Yes, her prophets and priests
were covered with blood;
no one would come near them,
as they wandered
from street to street.
15 Instead, everyone shouted,
“Go away! Don't touch us!
You're filthy and unfit
to belong to God's people!”
So they had to leave
and become refugees.
But foreign nations told them,
“You can't stay here!”[d]
16 The Lord is the one
who sent them scattering,
and he has forgotten them.
No respect or kindness
will be shown
to the priests or leaders.
17 Our eyes became weary,
hopelessly looking
for help from a nation[e]
that could not save us.
18 Enemies hunted us down
on every public street.
Our time was up;
our doom was near.
19 They swooped down faster
than eagles from the sky.
They hunted for us in the hills
and set traps to catch us
out in the desert.
20 The Lord's chosen leader[f]
was our hope for survival!
We thought he would keep us safe
somewhere among the nations,
but even he was caught
in one of their traps.
21 You people of Edom
can celebrate now!
But your time will come
to suffer and stagger
around naked.
22 The people of Zion
have paid for their sins,
and the Lord will soon
let them return home.
But, people of Edom,
you will be punished,
and your sins exposed.
Footnotes
- 4.3 jackals: Desert animals related to wolves, but smaller.
- 4.6 hands: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 6.
- 4.7 jewels: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 7.
- 4.15 here: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 15.
- 4.17 nation: Egypt, a former ally of Judah.
- 4.20 chosen leader: Probably Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, taken away to Babylonia in 586 b.c.
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