Lamentations 4
4
Zion’s Punishment
1How the gold has lost its luster!
How the pure gold has lost its value!
The sacred stones # 4:1 The “gold,” “pure gold,” and “sacred stones” are references to the people of Jerusalem. See 1 Peter 2:5. lie scattered
at the corner of every street.
2The precious children of Zion,
once worth their weight in the finest gold,
are now regarded as jars of clay
made by a potter’s hands.
3Even the vicious jackal # 4:3 Or “dragon” (MT, LXX).
is kind enough to nurse her young,
but the daughter of my people is as cruel
as the desert ostrich. # 4:3 The proverbial cruelty of the ostrich is also found in Job 39:13–18. It was assumed that the ostrich laid her eggs and abandoned them to be stepped on, just as the women of Israel abandoned their children when the city was conquered.
4The nursing babies have such thirst
that their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths.
Little children ask for bread,
but no one gives them a crumb.
5Those who used to feast on delicacies
now lie dying in the streets.
Those who were raised in luxury # 4:5 Or “reared in scarlet [purple].” Scarlet and purple were the colors of robes worn by kings and are associated with luxury and royalty. See Judg. 8:26; Song. 7:5.
now huddle in garbage dumps.
6The punishment of my beloved people # 4:6 Or “The iniquity of the daughter of my people.”
exceeded the judgment of sinful Sodom,
which was suddenly destroyed
without an army attacking her. # 4:6 Or “without a hand laid on her” or “with no one to help her” or “without a hand twisting.”
7Israel’s nobility # 4:7 Although the Hebrew word is a variant of “nazirites,” it is more likely a reference to princes: those who wore a crown or wreath (Hb. nezer). was once brighter than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies glowed with health
and glistened like jewels.
8Now their faces are emaciated; # 4:8 Or “their form is blacker than soot.”
they are not even recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones,
as dry as a stick.
9Better are those killed by the sword
than those killed by famine.
They slowly starve to death
for lack of food.
10The hands of caring women
cooked their own children; # 4:10 See Deut. 28:52–53.
they became their food
when my beloved people were destroyed.
11At the peak of Yahweh’s wrath,
he vented his fierce anger!
He lit a fire in Zion
and burned it down to the ground.
12No king believed,
nor anyone anywhere,
that a hostile foe could ever break through
the gates of Jerusalem.
13Yet this happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the crimes of her priests,
who shed innocent blood
in the heart of the city.
14They wandered blindly through the city
and were so defiled with blood
that no one dared
to even touch their clothes.
15“Get away! Unclean!” people shouted at them.
“Keep back! Keep back! Don’t touch!”
So, they fled Jerusalem and wandered to the nations,
but they were not welcome to stay there either.
16The face of Yahweh scattered them;
he will look on them no more.
They had no respect for the priests,
no honor for her leaders.
The Lament of the People of Jerusalem
17We strained our eyes continually and looked,
watching for help that never came.
From our watchtowers we waited for a nation to help,
for a nation that could not save us.
18Men stalked us
so that we could not walk on our streets.
Our end drew near, our time ran out,
for our end had come.
19Our pursuers were swifter
than eagles in the sky; # 4:19 See Deut. 28:49.
they hunted us on the mountains
and lay in ambush for us in the wilderness.
20They captured Yahweh’s anointed leader, our king; # 4:20 This was Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, taken away to Babylonia in 586 BC.
the hope of our survival # 4:20 Or “the breath of our life.” was caught in their traps.
We thought that under his protective shadow
we would live among the nations.
Warning to the People of Edom and Uz
21Go ahead, you people of Edom and Uz,
laugh on and be glad like nothing will happen to you! # 4:21 Edom was a Babylonian ally, next-door neighbor to Judah. The prophet warned Edom not to gloat. See Jer. 49:7–22.
Your day is coming to drink from this cup; # 4:21 See Obad. 16; Rev. 14:10; 16:19.
you will get drunk and stagger naked.
22Your punishment is over, fair daughter of Zion. # 4:22 This verse seems to be addressed to those who had been taken into exile after the fall of Jerusalem.
Yahweh will never send you away into exile again.
But people of Edom, he will punish your wickedness
and expose your sins.
अहिले सेलेक्ट गरिएको:
Lamentations 4: TPT
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शेयर गर्नुहोस्
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