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Lamentations 4

Distress of the Siege Described

1

How  adark the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out At the  1corner of every street.

2

The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they are regarded as  aearthen jars, The work of a potter's hands!

3

Even  ajackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become  bcruel Like  costriches in the wilderness.

4

The  atongue of the infant cleaves To the roof of its mouth because of  bthirst; The little ones  cask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.

5

Those who ate  adelicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those  1reared in purple Embrace ash pits.

6

For the  1iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the  2 asin of Sodom, Which was  boverthrown as in a moment, And no hands were  3turned toward her.

7

Her  1consecrated ones were  apurer than snow, They were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in  2body than corals, Their polishing was like  3 blapis lazuli.

8

Their appearance is  ablacker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their  bskin is shriveled on their bones, It is withered, it has become like wood.

9

Better are those  1 aslain with the sword Than those  1slain with hunger; For they  2 bpine away, being stricken For lack of the fruits of  3the field.

10

The hands of compassionate women  aBoiled their own children; They became  bfood for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11

The LORD has  aaccomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has  bkindled a fire in Zion Which has consumed its foundations.

12

The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of  athe inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Could  benter the gates of Jerusalem.

13

Because of the sins of her  aprophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The  bblood of the righteous;

14

They wandered,  ablind, in the streets; They were defiled with  bblood So that no one could touch their  cgarments.

15

"Depart!  aUnclean!"  1they cried of themselves. "Depart, depart, do not touch!" So they  bfled 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 not  1 ahonor the priests, They did not favor the elders.

17

Yet our eyes failed, Looking for  1help was  auseless; In our watching we have watched For a  bnation that could not save.

18

They  ahunted our steps So that we could not walk in our streets; Our  bend drew near, Our days were  1finished For our end had come.

19

Our pursuers were  aswifter Than the eagles of the sky; They chased us on the mountains, They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.

20

The  abreath of our nostrils, the  bLORD'S anointed, Was  ccaptured in their pits, Of whom we had said, "Under his  dshadow We shall live among the nations."

21

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of  aEdom, Who dwells in the land of Uz; But the  bcup will come around to you as well, You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

22

The punishment of your iniquity has been  acompleted, O daughter of Zion; He will exile you no longer. But He  bwill punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins!



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(Produced: Sat Dec 22 11:23:50 2007)

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