Lamentations 4
4
Terrors of the Besieged City
א Aleph
1How the gold has become tarnished,
the fine gold become dull!
The stones of the temple#4:1 Or The sacred gems lie scattered
at the head of every street.#Ezk 7:19–20
ב Beth
2Zion’s precious children —
once worth their weight in pure gold#Is 62:3; Zch 9:16 —
how they are regarded as clay jars,
the work of a potter’s hands!
ג Gimel
3Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my dear people have become cruel
like ostriches#Jb 39:13–18 in the wilderness.
ד Daleth
4The nursing baby’s tongue
clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst.#Ps 22:15
Infants beg for food,
but no one gives them any.
ה He
5Those who used to eat delicacies
are destitute in the streets;
those who were reared in purple garments#Jdg 8:26; Est 8:15
huddle in trash heaps.
ו Waw
6The punishment of my dear people
is greater than that of Sodom,#Gn 18–19; Is 3:9; Jr 23:14
which was overthrown in an instant
without a hand laid on it.
ז Zayin
7Her dignitaries were brighter than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies#4:7 Lit bones were more ruddy than coral,
their appearance like lapis lazuli.
ח Cheth
8Now they appear darker than soot;#Jb 30:30; Lm 5:10
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become dry like wood.
ט Teth
9Those slain by the sword are better off
than those slain by hunger,
who waste away, pierced with pain
because the fields lack produce.
י Yod
10The hands of compassionate women
have cooked their own children;#Dt 28:53; 2Kg 6:9
they became their food
during the destruction of my dear people.#Jr 8:11,21; Lm 2:11; 3:48
כ Kaph
11The Lord has exhausted his wrath,
poured out his burning anger;
he has ignited a fire in Zion,
and it has consumed her foundations.#Lm 2:3–4
ל Lamed
12The kings of the earth
and all the world’s inhabitants did not believe
that an enemy or adversary
could enter Jerusalem’s gates.#2Sm 5:6–8; Ps 48:1–5
מ Mem
13Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed the blood of the righteous within her.#Ps 106:38–39; Ezk 22:1–5
נ Nun
14Blind, they stumbled in the streets,#Dt 28:29; Is 59:10; Zph 1:17
defiled by this blood,#Lv 21:11
so that no one dared
to touch their garments.
ס Samek
15“Stay away! Unclean!” people shouted at them.
“Away, away! Don’t touch us!” #Lv 13:45–46
So they wandered aimlessly.#Gn 4:12
It was said among the nations,
“They can stay here no longer.”
פ Pe
16The Lord himself has scattered them;
he no longer watches over them.
The priests are not respected;
the elders find no favor.
ע Ayin
17All the while our eyes were failing
as we looked in vain for help;#Jr 37:7–8
we watched from our towers
for a nation that would not save us.
צ Tsade
18Our steps were closely followed
so that we could not walk in our streets.
Our end approached;#Ezk 7:2–12; Am 8:2 our time ran out.
Our end had come!
ק Qoph
19Those who chased us were swifter
than eagles in the sky;#Jr 4:13; Hab 1:8
they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains
and ambushed us in the wilderness.
ר Resh
20The Lord’s anointed, the breath of our life,#4:20 Lit nostrils#Gn 2:7; 2Kg 25:7
was captured in their traps.
We had said about him,
“We will live under his protection among the nations.”
שׂ Sin
21So rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,#Ezk 35:15; Ob 12
you resident of the land of Uz!#Jr 25:20
Yet the cup#Is 51:17; Jr 25:15–16; Hab 2:16 will pass to you as well;
you will get drunk and expose yourself.
ת Taw
22Daughter Zion, your punishment is complete;
he will not lengthen your exile.#4:22 Or not deport you again
But he will punish your iniquity, Daughter Edom,
and will expose your sins.#Ps 137:7; Ezk 25:12–14; Jl 3:19
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Lamentations 4: CSB
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