Lamentations 4
4
Lamentations 4
The Punishment of Zion
1How the gold has grown dim;
how the pure gold is changed!
The sacred stones lie scattered
at the head of every street.
2 #
Isa 30.14; 51.18; Jer 19.11 The precious children of Zion,
worth their weight in fine gold—
how they are reckoned as earthen pots,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 #
Job 39.14, 16; Isa 34.13; 49.15 Even the jackals offer the breast
and nurse their young,
but my people has become cruel,
like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 #
Jer 14.3; Lam 2.12 The tongue of the infant sticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
the children beg for food,
but there is nothing for them.
5Those who feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
those who were brought up in purple
cling to ash heaps.
6 #
Gen 19.23; Jer 20.16; Ezek 16.48 For the chastisement of my people has been greater
than the punishment of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment,
though no hand was laid on it.#4.6 Meaning of Heb uncertain
7 #
Ps 51.7
Her princes were purer than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
their form cut like sapphire.#4.7 Or lapis lazuli
8 #
Job 30.30; Ps 102.5; Lam 5.10 Now their visage is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.
9 #
Jer 15.2; Ezek 24.23 Happier were those pierced by the sword
than those pierced by hunger,
whose life drains away, deprived
of the produce of the field.
10 #
Deut 28.57; 2 Kings 6.29; Lam 2.20 The hands of compassionate women
have boiled their own children;
they became their food
in the destruction of my people.
11 #
v 22
; Deut 32.22; Jer 7.20; 21.14The Lord gave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger
and kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.
12 #
1 Kings 9.8, 9; Jer 21.13 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 #
Jer 5.31; 6.13; Ezek 22.26; Mic 3.11, 12; Mt 23.31 It was for the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed the blood of the righteous
in her midst.
14 #
Isa 56.10; 59.9, 10; Jer 2.34; 19.4 Blindly they wandered through the streets,
so defiled with blood
that no one was able
to touch their garments.
15 #
Lev 13.45; Jer 49.5 “Away! Unclean!” people shouted at them;
“Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
it was said among the nations,
“They shall stay here no longer.”
16 #
Lam 5.12
The Lord himself has scattered them;
he will regard them no more;
no honor was shown to the priests,
no favor to the elders.
17 #
2 Kings 24.7; Isa 20.5; Jer 37.7; Ezek 29.16 Our eyes failed, ever watching
vainly for help;
we were watching eagerly
for a nation that could not save.
18 #
2 Kings 25.4; Ezek 7.2, 3; Am 8.2 They dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
our end drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 #
Deut 28.49; Jer 4.13; Hab 1.8 Our pursuers were swifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 #
2 Sam 1.14; 19.21; Ezek 12.13; 19.4, 8 The Lord’s anointed, the breath of our life,
was taken in their pits—
the one of whom we said, “Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”
21 #
Isa 34.7; Am 1.11, 12; Ob 1, 16 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter Edom,
you that live in the land of Uz;
but to you also the cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
22 #
Isa 40.2; Mal 1.3, 4 The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer;
but your iniquity, O daughter Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.
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Lamentations 4: NRSVUE
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New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
