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1HOW the gold has grown dim;
The sacred stones lie scattered
at the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
once comparable to fine gold,
are now regarded as clay pots,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my dear people have become cruel,
like ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the nursing infant
sticks to the roof of his mouth for thirst;
small children beg for bread,
but no one gives them any.
5 Those who once ate delicacies
are left destitute in the streets;
those who were raised dressed in purple
now lie in ash heaps.
6 The punishment of my dear people
is greater than that of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment
without a hand being laid on it.
7 Her Nazirites were brighter than snow,
and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
their appearance like sapphires.
8 But now their appearance is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shrivelled on their bones;
it has withered like dry wood.
9 Those slain by the sword are better off
than those who are die by hunger;
struck down by starvation, they waste away
for lack of food from the fields.
10 The hands of compassionate women
have cooked their own children;
they became their food
during the destruction of my dear people.
11 The Lord has accomplished His fury;
He has poured out His fierce anger.
He has kindled a fire in Zion
that has consumed her very foundations.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the world’s people,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Yet it has happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed the blood of the righteous
within her.
14 They wandered the streets like blind men;
they had defiled themselves with so much blood
that no one was able
to touch their garments.
15 “Go away! You are unclean!” people shouted at them,
“Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”
So they fled away and wandered aimlessly.
Then it was said of them among the nations,
“They can stay here no longer.”
16 The Lord Himself has scattered them;
He no longer has regard for them.
The priests are shown no honour,
the elders no favour.
17 And as for us, our eyes failed us
for ever looking in vain for help;
from our towers we watched
for a nation that then could not save us.
18 Men constantly stalked us,
so we could not walk in the streets.
Our end drew near, then our days ran out,
for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they pursued us on the mountains,
and lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 The breath of our very lives, the Lord’s anointed,
was caught in their traps,
whereas we had always said,
“Under His shadow we shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom,
you who live in the land of Uz.
But to you also the cup will be passed,
and you will become drunk and strip yourself naked.
22 The punishment of your iniquity is complete, O Daughter of Zion;
He will not prolong your exile.
But He will punish your iniquity, O Daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins.