Lamentations 4

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.

1Look how the gold has gone dull. The finest gold has lost its shine. The precious stones of the temple lie scattered on every street corner.

2The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

2The dear sons of Zion were once worth their weight in gold. Zion is another name for Jerusalem. Now people count them as cheap clay jars, made by a potter's hands.

3Even 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.

3Even jackals, which are wild dogs, feed milk to their babies. But my people have turned cruel. They are like an ostrich out in the desert.

NoteThe KJV says "sea monsters," but the Hebrew word means jackals, a kind of wild dog.

4The 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.

4The baby's tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth. He is that thirsty. Little children beg for bread. No one gives them any.

5They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.

5People who once ate the finest food now sit with nothing in the streets. Those raised in fine red clothes now huddle in piles of ashes.

6For 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.

6The punishment of my people is worse than the punishment of Sodom. Sodom was a city that was wiped out in one moment. Not one hand reached out to help her.

7Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:

7Her honored men once looked brighter than snow and whiter than milk. Their bodies glowed pink like red jewels. They shone like blue gemstones.

NoteThe KJV calls them "Nazarites," men who made a special promise to God. Most modern translations read "her leaders" or "her honored men."

8Their 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.

8Now their faces are darker than soot. No one knows them in the streets. Their skin has dried tight on their bones, like an old stick.

9They 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.

9Those killed by the sword are better off than those who starved. Hunger made them waste away in pain, because the fields grew no food.

10The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

10Women who love and care for others cooked their own children. The children became their food when my people were destroyed.

NoteThe KJV word "pitiful" meant full of pity, that is, kind and caring. It did not mean weak or sad, the way we use the word today.

11The 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.

11The LORD let out all of his anger. He poured out his burning anger. He lit a fire in Zion, and it burned the city down to its base.

12The 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.

12Kings all over the earth did not believe it. No one in the world believed that an enemy could walk in through Jerusalem's gates.

13For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,

13This happened because of the sins of her prophets and her priests. Prophets told people what God said. Priests led worship at the temple. These men killed people who had done nothing wrong, right inside the city.

14They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.

14Those men wandered the streets like blind men. They were stained with the blood they spilled. No one dared to touch their clothes.

15They 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.

15People shouted at them, "Go away! You are unclean! Away, away! Do not touch us!" So they ran off and wandered. In other lands people said, "They cannot stay here."

16The 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.

16The LORD himself has scattered them. He does not watch over them anymore. No one shows the priests any honor. No one is kind to the older leaders.

17As 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.

17All this time our eyes grew tired from looking for help. It never came. We watched from our towers for a nation to save us. That nation could not save us.

18They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.

18Enemies followed our every step. We could not even walk in our own streets. Our end came close. Our time ran out. The end came.

19Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

19The ones chasing us were faster than eagles in the sky. They hunted us over the mountains. They hid and waited for us in the desert.

20The 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.

20Our king was the very breath of our life. The LORD had chosen him. Our enemies caught him in their trap. We had said, "Near him we will be safe, even among other nations."

Note"The anointed of the LORD" means the king. Oil was poured on a new king's head to show God had chosen him.

21Rejoice 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.

21Be happy and glad, daughter of Edom, you who live in the land of Uz. But the cup will be passed to you too. You will drink and get drunk. You will be left with no clothes.

22The 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.

22Daughter of Zion, your punishment is finished. He will not keep you away from home any longer. But daughter of Edom, he will punish your sin. He will show everyone what you did.