The Holy Stones Lie Scattered
LAMENTATIONS 4 [†] q How the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
r at the head of every street.
2[†] The precious sons of Zion,
worth their weight in s fine gold,
how they are regarded as t 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 u sticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
v the children beg for food,
but no one gives to them.
5[†] Those who once feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
w those who were brought up in purple
embrace ash heaps.
6[†] x For the chastisement [1] of the daughter of my people has been greater
than the punishment [2] of Sodom,
y which was overthrown in a moment,
and no hands were wrung for her. [3]
7[†] Her princes were purer than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
the beauty of their form [4] was like sapphire. [5]
8[†] z 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[†] a The hands of b compassionate women
c have boiled their own children;
d they became their food
during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11[^][†] e The LORD gave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger,
and f he kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.
12[†] g 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 h the sins of her prophets
and h the iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.
14[†] i They wandered, blind, through the streets;
they were so defiled with blood
j that no one was able to touch
their garments.
15[†] “Away! k 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[†] l The LORD himself [6] has scattered them;
he will regard them no more;
m no honor was shown to the priests,
n no favor to the elders.
17[†] o Our eyes failed, ever watching
o vainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for p a nation which could not save.
so that we could not walk in our streets;
r our end drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19[†] Our pursuers were s swifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20[†] t The breath of our nostrils, u the LORD’s anointed,
was captured v in their pits,
of whom we said, w “Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”
21[†] x Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in y the land of Uz;
but to you also z the cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
22[†] a The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer; [7]
but b your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.