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BibleCompass

/Chapter 4

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Lamentations

ESV

Chapter 4

¹How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The stones of the sanctuary are scattered at the head of every street. ²The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen pots, the work of a potter's hands! ³Even the jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young; but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. ⁴The tongue of the nursing infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives it to them. ⁵Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in scarlet now cling to ash heaps. ⁶For the chastisement of the iniquity of the daughter of my people has been greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, with no human hand to aid her. ⁷Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, the beauty of their form was like sapphire. ⁸Now their appearance is darker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood. ⁹Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field. ¹⁰The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people. ¹¹The LORD has spent his fury; he has poured out his hot anger; and he has kindled a fire in Zion that has consumed its foundations. ¹²The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem. ¹³This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous. ¹⁴They wandered, blind, through the streets; they were so defiled with blood that no one could touch their garments. ¹⁵“Away! Unclean!” people shouted at them. “Away! Away! Do not touch!” So they fled and wandered; among the nations it was said, “They shall stay here no longer.” ¹⁶The LORD himself has scattered them; he will regard them no more; no honor was shown to the priests, no favor to the elders. ¹⁷Our eyes still failed, ever watching for our vain help; in our watching we watched for a nation that could not save. ¹⁸They hunted our steps, so that we could not go in our streets; our end drew near; our days were numbered, for our end had come. ¹⁹Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens; they chased us over the mountains; they lay in wait for us in the wilderness. ²⁰The breath of our nostrils, the LORD's anointed, was captured in their pits, of whom we said, “Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.” ²¹Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare. ²²The punishment of your iniquity is completed, O daughter of Zion; he will no longer send you into exile; he will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will uncover your sins.