4:1  How dark the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones have poured out At the corner of every street.

4:2  The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they became regarded as earthen jars, The work of a potter's hands!

4:3  Even jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become cruel Like ostriches in the wilderness.

4:4  The tongue of the infant cleaves To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The little ones ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.

4:5  Those who ate delicacies find themselves desolate in the streets; Those reared in purple Embrace ash pits.

4:6  For the iniquity of the daughter of my people Has become greater than the sin of Sodom, Which became overthrown as in a moment, And no hands turned toward her.

4:7  Her consecrated ones appear purer than snow, They looked whiter than milk; They appeared more ruddy in body than corals, Their polishing resembled lapis lazuli.

4:8  Their appearance seemed blacker than soot, No one recognizes them in the streets; Their skin shrivels on their bones, It withered, it has become like wood.

4:9  Better we regard those slain with the sword Than those slain with hunger; For they pine away, having become stricken For lack of the fruits of the field.

4:10  The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

4:11  The LORD has accomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion Which has consumed its foundations.

4:12   The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem.

4:13  Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the righteous;

4:14  They wandered, blind, in the streets; They defiled themselves with blood So that no one could touch their garments.

4:15  "Depart! Unclean!" they cried of themselves "Depart, depart, do not touch!" So they fled and wandered; Men among the nations said, "They shall not continue to dwell with us."

4:16  The presence of the LORD has scattered them, He will not continue to regard them; They did not honor the priests, They did not favor the elders.

4:17  Yet our eyes failed, Looking for help proved useless; In our watching we have watched For a nation that could not save.

4:18  They hunted our steps So that we could not walk in our streets; Our end drew near, Our days finished For our end had come.

4:19  Our pursuers seemed swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They chased us on the mountains, They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.

4:20  The breath of our nostrils, the LORD'S anointed, Remained captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, "Under his shadow We shall live among the nations."

4:21  Rejoice and feel glad, O daughter of Edom, Who dwells in the land of Uz; But the cup will come around to you as well,You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

4:22  The punishment of your iniquity has become completed, O daughter of Zion; He will exile you no longer But He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins!