Lamentations 4

Waking Up with Nothing

1 Oh, oh, oh... How gold is treated like dirt, the finest gold thrown out with the garbage, Priceless jewels scattered all over, jewels loose in the gutters.

2 And the people of Zion, once prized, far surpassing their weight in gold, Are now treated like cheap pottery, like everyday pots and bowls mass-produced by a potter.

3 Even wild jackals nurture their babies, give them their breasts to suckle. But my people have turned cruel to their babies, like an ostrich in the wilderness.

4 Babies have nothing to drink. Their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths. Little children ask for bread but no one gives them so much as a crust.

5 People used to the finest cuisine forage for food in the streets. People used to the latest in fashions pick through the trash for something to wear.

6 The evil guilt of my dear people was worse than the sin of Sodom— The city was destroyed in a flash, and no one around to help.

7 The splendid and sacred nobles once glowed with health. Their bodies were robust and ruddy, their beards like carved stone.

8 But now they are smeared with soot, unrecognizable in the street, Their bones sticking out, their skin dried out like old leather.

9 Better to have been killed in battle than killed by starvation. Better to have died of battle wounds than to slowly starve to death.

10 Nice and kindly women boiled their own children for supper. This was the only food in town when my dear people were broken.

11 God let all his anger loose, held nothing back. He poured out his raging wrath. He set a fire in Zion that burned it to the ground.

12 The kings of the earth couldn't believe it. World rulers were in shock, Watching old enemies march in big as you please, right through Jerusalem's gates.

13 Because of the sins of her prophets and the evil of her priests, Who exploited good and trusting people, robbing them of their lives,

14 These prophets and priests blindly grope their way through the streets, grimy and stained from their dirty lives, Wasted by their wasted lives, shuffling from fatigue, dressed in rags.

15 People yell at them, "Get out of here, dirty old men! Get lost, don't touch us, don't infect us!" They have to leave town. They wander off. Nobody wants them to stay here. Everyone knows, wherever they wander, that they've been kicked out of their own hometown.

16 God himself scattered them. No longer does he look out for them. He has nothing to do with the priests; he cares nothing for the elders.

17 We watched and watched, wore our eyes out looking for help. And nothing. We mounted our lookouts and looked for the help that never showed up.

18 They tracked us down, those hunters. It wasn't safe to go out in the street. Our end was near, our days numbered. We were doomed.

19 They came after us faster than eagles in flight, pressed us hard in the mountains, ambushed us in the desert.

20 Our king, our life's breath, the anointed of God, was caught in their traps— Our king under whose protection we always said we'd live.

21 Celebrate while you can, O Edom! Live it up in Uz! For it won't be long before you drink this cup, too. You'll find out what it's like to drink God's wrath, Get drunk on God's wrath and wake up with nothing, stripped naked.

22 And that's it for you, Zion. The punishment's complete. You won't have to go through this exile again. But Edom, your time is coming: He'll punish your evil life, put all your sins on display.

Lamentations 4

1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most pure gold changed! The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street.

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

3 Even the jackals 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.

4 The 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.

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

6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, That was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands were laid upon her.

7 Her nobles were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was as of sapphire.

8 Their 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.

9 They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger; For these pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the field.

10 The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11 Jehovah hath accomplished his wrath, he hath poured out his fierce anger; And he hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath devoured the foundations thereof.

12 The kings of the earth believed not, neither all the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.

13  It is because of the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, That have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.

14 They wander as blind men in the streets, they are polluted with blood, So that men cannot touch their garments.

15 Depart ye, they cried unto them, Unclean! depart, depart, touch not! When they fled away and wandered, men said among the nations, They shall no more sojourn here.

16 The anger of Jehovah hath scattered them; he will no more regard them: They respected not the persons of the priests, they favored not the elders.

17 Our eyes do yet fail in looking for our vain help: In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.

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

19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens: They chased us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits; Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.

21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz: The cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.

22 The 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 uncover thy sins.