Lamentations 4:1-16
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.
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 4:1-16
New Living Translation
God’s Anger Satisfied
4 How the gold has lost its luster!
Even the finest gold has become dull.
The sacred gemstones
lie scattered in the streets!
2 See how the precious children of Jerusalem,[a]
worth their weight in fine gold,
are now treated like pots of clay
made by a common potter.
3 Even the jackals feed their young,
but not my people Israel.
They ignore their children’s cries,
like ostriches in the desert.
4 The parched tongues of their little ones
stick to the roofs of their mouths in thirst.
The children cry for bread,
but no one has any to give them.
5 The people who once ate the richest foods
now beg in the streets for anything they can get.
Those who once wore the finest clothes
now search the garbage dumps for food.
6 The guilt[b] of my people
is greater than that of Sodom,
where utter disaster struck in a moment
and no hand offered help.
7 Our princes once glowed with health—
brighter than snow, whiter than milk.
Their faces were as ruddy as rubies,
their appearance like fine jewels.[c]
8 But now their faces are blacker than soot.
No one recognizes them in the streets.
Their skin sticks to their bones;
it is as dry and hard as wood.
9 Those killed by the sword are better off
than those who die of hunger.
Starving, they waste away
for lack of food from the fields.
10 Tenderhearted women
have cooked their own children.
They have eaten them
to survive the siege.
11 But now the anger of the Lord is satisfied.
His fierce anger has been poured out.
He started a fire in Jerusalem[d]
that burned the city to its foundations.
12 Not a king in all the earth—
no one in all the world—
would have believed that an enemy
could march through the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the sins of her priests,
who defiled the city
by shedding innocent blood.
14 They wandered blindly
through the streets,
so defiled by blood
that no one dared touch them.
15 “Get away!” the people shouted at them.
“You’re defiled! Don’t touch us!”
So they fled to distant lands
and wandered among foreign nations,
but none would let them stay.
16 The Lord himself has scattered them,
and he no longer helps them.
People show no respect for the priests
and no longer honor the leaders.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
