Lamentations 4:1-12

The Punishment of Zion Accomplished

4¹ How dark the gold has become , How the pure gold has changed ! The sacred stones are poured out At the corner 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 ; Those reared in purple Embrace ash pits . ⁶ For the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the sin of Sodom , Which was overthrown as in a moment , And no hands were turned toward her. ⁷ Her consecrated ones were purer than snow , They were whiter than milk ; They were more ruddy in body than corals , Their polishing was like lapis 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 those slain with the sword Than those slain with hunger ; For they pine away , being stricken For lack of the fruits of the 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 .