Lamentations 4
4
The Punishment of Jerusalem
The Prophet Speaks:
1The purest gold is ruined
and has lost its shine;
jewels from the temple
lie scattered in the streets.
2These are Zion's people,
worth more than purest gold;
yet they are counted worthless
like dishes of clay.
3Even jackals#4.3 jackals: Desert animals related to wolves, but smaller. nurse their young,
but my people are like ostriches
that abandon their own.
4Babies are so thirsty
that their tongues are stuck
to the roof of the mouth.
Children go begging for food,
but no one gives them any.
5All who ate expensive foods
lie starving in the streets;
those who grew up in luxury
now sit on trash heaps.
6 #
Gn 19.24. My nation was punished worse
than the people of Sodom,
whose city was destroyed
in a flash without the help
of human hands.#4.6 hands: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 6.
7The leaders of Jerusalem
were purer than snow
and whiter than milk;
their bodies were healthy
and glowed like jewels.#4.7 jewels: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 7.
8Now they are blacker than tar,
and no one recognizes them;
their skin clings to their bones
and is drier than firewood.
9Being killed with a sword
is better than slowly
starving to death.
10 #
Dt 28.56,57; Ez 5.10. Life in the city is so bad
that loving mothers have boiled
and eaten their own children.
11The Lord was so fiercely angry
that he burned the city of Zion
to the ground.
12Not a king on this earth
or the people of any nation
believed enemies could break
through her gates.
13Jerusalem was punished because
her prophets and her priests
had sinned and caused the death
of innocent victims.
14Yes, her prophets and priests
were covered with blood;
no one would come near them,
as they wandered
from street to street.
15Instead, everyone shouted,
“Go away! Don't touch us!
You're filthy and unfit
to belong to God's people!”
So they had to leave
and become refugees.
But foreign nations told them,
“You can't stay here!”#4.15 here: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 15.
16The Lord is the one
who sent them scattering,
and he has forgotten them.
No respect or kindness
will be shown
to the priests or leaders.
17Our eyes became weary,
hopelessly looking
for help from a nation#4.17 nation: Egypt, a former ally of Judah.
that could not save us.
18Enemies hunted us down
on every public street.
Our time was up;
our doom was near.
19They swooped down faster
than eagles from the sky.
They hunted for us in the hills
and set traps to catch us
out in the desert.
20The Lord's chosen leader#4.20 chosen leader: Probably Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, taken away to Babylonia in 586 b.c.
was our hope for survival!
We thought he would keep us safe
somewhere among the nations,
but even he was caught
in one of their traps.
21You people of Edom
can celebrate now!
But your time will come
to suffer and stagger
around naked.
22The people of Zion
have paid for their sins,
and the Lord will soon
let them return home.
But, people of Edom,
you will be punished,
and your sins exposed.
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Lamentations 4: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Lamentations 4
4
The Prophet Speaks Out: Zion’s Suffering Was Worse Than Sodom’s
1 # 4:1 Chapter 4 is a poem in Hebrew alphabetical order. “Look how the gold has become tarnished!
The fine gold has changed!
The sacred stones are scattered at every street corner.
2“Zion’s precious children, who are worth their weight in fine gold,
are now treated like clay pots,
like those made by a potter’s hands.
3Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young,
but the women of my people are as cruel as wild ostriches.
4The tongues of nursing infants stick to the roofs of their mouths
because of their thirst.
Little children beg for bread,
but no one will break off a piece for them.
5Those who used to eat delicacies are now destitute in the streets.
Those who used to wear expensive clothes now pick through piles of garbage.
6The punishment for my people’s wickedness has been more severe
than the punishment for the sins of Sodom.
Sodom was destroyed instantly, without one human hand touching it.
7Zion’s princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk.
Their bodies were more pink than coral.
Their hair was like sapphires.
8Their faces are ⌞now⌟ blacker than soot.
No one recognizes them on the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones.
It has become as dry as bark.
9Those who were killed with swords are better off
than those who are dying from starvation.
Those who were stabbed bled to death.
The others are dying because there is nothing in the fields to eat.
10The hands of loving mothers cooked their own children.
The children were used for food by my people
when they were being destroyed ⌞by a blockade⌟.
11The Lord’s fury has accomplished his purpose.
He unleashed his burning anger.
He started a fire in Zion that even burned its foundations.
12Neither the kings of the earth nor anyone living on earth could believe
that enemies or invaders would ever get through the gates of Jerusalem.
13 ⌞They got through⌟ because of the sins of Jerusalem’s prophets
and the crimes of its priests,
who spilled the blood of righteous people within it.
14My people staggered blindly through the streets.
They were so contaminated with bloodstains
that no one would touch their clothes.
15‘Get away! You’re unclean,’ #4:15 “Unclean” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God. people yelled at them.
‘Get away! Get away! Don’t touch anyone.’
When they fled and wandered around,
the people of the nations said, ‘They can’t stay here any longer.’
16The Lord himself has scattered them.
He will no longer look favorably on them.
They no longer respected the priests,
nor did they honor their older leaders.”
The People of Zion Speak Out
17“We are still straining our eyes, trying in vain to find help.
We waited and waited for a nation that didn’t save us.
18 ⌞The enemy⌟ kept tracking us down,
so we couldn’t even go out into the streets.
Our end was near.
Our time was up.
Our end had come.
19Those who were hunting us were faster than eagles in the sky.
They chased us in the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.
20The person the Lord anointed ⌞as king⌟, who is the breath of our life,
was caught in their pits.
We had thought that we would live
in our king’s shadow among the nations.”
The Prophet Speaks Out: Be Warned about Edom’s Impending Doom
21“Rejoice and be glad, people of Edom, inhabitants of the country of Uz.
The cup ⌞of the Lord’s fury⌟ will be passed to you next.
You’ll get drunk and take off all your clothes.
22People of Zion, the punishment for your wickedness will end.
The Lord will not let you remain in exile.
People of Edom, he will punish you for your wickedness.
He will expose your sins.”
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