13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of the righteous. 14 Now they grope through the streets as if they were blind. They are so defiled with blood that no one dares to touch their garments. 15 "Go away! You are unclean!" people cry to them. "Away! Away! Don't touch us!" When they flee and wander about, people among the nations say, "They can stay here no longer." 16 The Lord himself has scattered them; he no longer watches over them. The priests are shown no honor, the elders no favor. 17 Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us. 18 People stalked us at every step, so we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near, our days were numbered, for our end had come. 19 Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert. 20 The Lord's anointed, our very life breath, was caught in their traps. We thought that under his shadow we would live among the nations.

Other Translations of Lamentations 4:13-20

King James Version

13 For 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 have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there. 16 The anger anger: or, face of the Lord hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders. 17 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us. 18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come. 19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. 20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.

English Standard Version

13 This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous. 14 They wandered, blind, through the streets; they were so defiled with blood that no one was able to touch their garments. 15 "Away! Unclean!" people cried at them. "Away! Away! Do not touch!" So they became fugitives and wanderers; people said among the nations, "They shall stay with us no longer." 16 The Lord himselfHebrew The face of the Lord has scattered them; he will regard them no more; no honor was shown to the priests, no favor to the elders. 17 Our eyes failed, ever watching vainly for help; in our watching we watched for a nation which could not save. 18 They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; our end drew near; our days were numbered, for our end had come. 19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles in the heavens; they chased us on the mountains; they lay in wait for us in the wilderness. 20 The breath of our nostrils, the Lord's anointed, was captured in their pits, of whom we said, "Under his shadow we shall live among the nations."

The Message

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.

New King James Version

13 Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who shed in her midst The blood of the just. 14 They wandered blind in the streets; They have defiled themselves with blood, So that no one would touch their garments. 15 They cried out to them, "Go away, unclean! Go away, go away, Do not touch us!" When they fled and wandered, Those among the nations said, "They shall no longer dwell here." 16 The face of the Lord scattered them; He no longer regards them. The people do not respect the priests Nor show favor to the elders. 17 Still our eyes failed us, Watching vainly for our help; In our watching we watched For a nation that could not save us. 18 They tracked our steps So that we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near; Our days were over, For our end had come. 19 Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the heavens. They pursued us on the mountains And lay in wait for us in the wilderness. 20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, Was caught in their pits, Of whom we said, "Under his shadow We shall live among the nations."

New Living Translation

13 Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the sins of her priests, who defiled the city by shedding innocent blood. 14 They wandered blindly through the streets, so defiled by blood that no one dared touch them. 15 "Get away!" the people shouted at them. "You're defiled! Don't touch us!" So they fled to distant lands and wandered among foreign nations, but none would let them stay. 16 The Lord himself has scattered them, and he no longer helps them. People show no respect for the priests and no longer honor the leaders. 17 We looked in vain for our allies to come and save us, but we were looking to nations that could not help us. 18 We couldn't go into the streets without danger to our lives. Our end was near; our days were numbered. We were doomed! 19 Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight. If we fled to the mountains, they found us. If we hid in the wilderness, they were waiting for us there. 20 Our king-the Lord 's anointed, the very life of our nation- was caught in their snares. We had thought that his shadow would protect us against any nation on earth!

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Lamentations 4:13-20

Commentary on Lamentations 4:13-20

(Read Lamentations 4:13-20)

Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the measure faster, than the sins of priests and prophets. The king himself cannot escape, for Divine vengeance pursues him. Our anointed King alone is the life of our souls; we may safely live under his shadow, and rejoice in Him in the midst of our enemies, for He is the true God and eternal life.