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! |