Lamentations 4:17-22

Revised Standard Version

¹⁷ Our eyes failed, ever watching
    vainly for help;
in our watching^[a] we watched
    for a nation which could not save.

¹⁸ Men dogged our steps
    so that we could not walk in our streets;
our end drew near; our days were numbered;
    for our end had come.

¹⁹ Our pursuers were swifter
    than the vultures in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains,
    they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

²⁰ The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed,
    was taken in their pits,
he of whom we said, “Under his shadow
    we shall live among the nations.”

²¹ Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
    dweller in the land of Uz;
but to you also the cup shall pass;
    you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.

²² The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished,
    he will keep you in exile no longer;
but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish,
    he will uncover your sins.