1 How dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are poured out
At thea Lit headcorner of every street. | |
2 The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against fine gold,
How they are regarded as earthen jars,
The work of a potter’s hands! | |
3 Even jackals offer the breast,
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has become cruel
Like ostriches in the wilderness. | |
4 The tongue of the infant cleaves
To the roof of its mouth because of thirst;
The little ones ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them. | |
5 Those who ate delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Thoseb Lit established in crimsonreared in purple
Embrace ash pits. | |
6 For thec Or punishment for iniquityiniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than thed Or punishment for sinsin of Sodom,
Which was overthrown as in a moment,
And no hands weree Or wrung over herturned toward her. | |
7 Herf Or Naziritesconsecrated ones were purer than snow,
They were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy ing Lit bonesbody than corals,
Their polishing was likeh Heb sappirlapis lazuli. | |
8 Their appearance is blacker than soot,
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their skin is shriveled on their bones,
It is withered, it has become like wood. | |
9 Better are thosei Lit piercedslain with the sword
Than thosej Lit piercedslain with hunger;
For theyk Lit flow awaypine away, being stricken
For lack of the fruits ofl Lit my fieldsthe field. | |
10 The hands of compassionate women
Boiled their own children;
They became food for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. | |
11 The LORD has accomplished His wrath,
He has poured out His fierce anger;
And He has kindled a fire in Zion
Which has consumed its foundations. | |
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Could enter the gates of Jerusalem. | |
13 Because of the sins of her prophets
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The blood of the righteous; | |
14 They wandered, blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with blood
So that no one could touch their garments. | |
15 “Depart! Unclean!”m Or they (men) cried to themthey cried of themselves.
“Depart, depart, do not touch!”
So they fled and wandered;
Men among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to dwell with us.” | |
16 The presence of the LORD has scattered them,
He will not continue to regard them;
They did notn Lit lift up the faces ofhonor the priests,
They did not favor the elders. | |
17 Yet our eyes failed,
Looking foro Lit our helphelp was useless;
In our watching we have watched
For a nation that could not save. | |
18 They hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our end drew near,
Our days werep Lit fullfinished
For our end had come. | |
19 Our pursuers were swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness. | |
20 The breath of our nostrils, the LORD’S anointed,
Was captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, “Under his shadow
We shall live among the nations.” | |
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
Who dwells in the land of Uz;
But the cup will come around to you as well,
You will become drunk and make yourself naked. | |
22 The punishment of your iniquity has been completed, O daughter of Zion;
He will exile you no longer.
But He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins! | |
