Lamentations 4:1-12

The Punishment of Zion Accomplished

4¹ 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.