Lamentations

The Lamentations of Jeremiah, chapter 4, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 4 New English Translation

The Prophet Speaks:

1 Alas! Gold has lost its luster; pure gold loses value. Jewels are scattered on every street corner.

2 The precious sons of Zion were worth their weight in gold - Alas! - but now they are treated like broken clay pots, made by a potter.

3 Even the jackals nurse their young at their breast, but my people are cruel, like ostriches in the desert.

4 The infant's tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth due to thirst; little children beg for bread, but no one gives them even a morsel.

5 Those who once feasted on delicacies are now starving to death in the streets. Those who grew up wearing expensive clothes are now dying amid garbage.

6 The punishment of my people exceeded that of of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment with no one to help her.

7 Her consecrated ones were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies more ruddy than corals, their hair like lapis lazuli.

8 Now their appearance is darker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it is dried up, like tree bark.

9 Those who died by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, those who waste away, struck down from lack of food.

10 The hands of tenderhearted women cooked their own children, who became their food, when my people were destroyed.

11 The LORD fully vented his wrath; he poured out his fierce anger. He started a fire in Zion; it consumed her foundations.

12 Neither the kings of the earth nor the people of the lands ever thought that enemy or foe would enter the gates of Jerusalem.

13 But it happened due to the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who poured out in her midst the blood of the righteous.

14 They wander blindly through the streets, defiled by the blood they shed, while no one dares to touch their garments.

15 People cry to them, "Turn away! You are unclean! Turn away! Turn away! Don't touch us!" So they have fled and wander about; but the nations say, "They may not stay here any longer."

16 The LORD himself has scattered them; he no longer watches over them. They did not honor the priests; they did not show favor to the elders.

The People of Jerusalem Lament:

17 Our eyes continually failed us as we looked in vain for help. From our watchtowers we watched for a nation that could not rescue us.

18 Our enemies hunted us down at every step so that we could not walk about in our streets. Our end drew near, our days were numbered, for our end had come!

19 Those who pursued us were swifter than eagles in the sky. They chased us over the mountains; they ambushed us in the wilderness.

20 Our very life breath - the LORD's anointed king - was caught in their traps, of whom we thought, "Under his protection we will survive among the nations."

The Prophet Speaks:

21 Rejoice and be glad for now, O people of Edom, who reside in the land of Uz. But the cup of judgment will pass to you also; you will get drunk and take off your clothes.

22 O people of Zion, your punishment will come to an end; he will not prolong your exile. But, O people of Edom, he will punish your sin and reveal your offenses!

King James Version

   1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
   2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
   3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
   4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
   5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
   6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.
   7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:
   8 Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.
   9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.
   10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
   11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.
   12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
   13 ¶ For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,
   14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.
   15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.
   16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.
   17 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.
   18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
   19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
   20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.
   21 ¶ Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
   22 ¶ The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.