1How dim the gold has become, The fine gold changed! The stones of the set-apart place Are scattered at the head of every street.

2The precious sons of Tsiyon Who were weighed against fine gold, How they have been reckoned as clay pots, The work of the hands of the potter!

3Even jackals have presented their breasts, They have nursed their young. The daughter of my people has become as cruel, As ostriches in the wilderness.

4The tongue of the infant has clung To the roof of its mouth for thirst; Children asked for bread, No one breaks it for them.

5Those who ate delicacies Have been laid waste in the streets; Those who were brought up in scarlet Have embraced dunghills.

6And the crookedness of the daughter of my people Is greater than the punishment of the sin of Seḏom, Which was overthrown in a moment, And no hands were wrung over her!

7Her Nazirites were brighter than snow And whiter than milk; More ruddy in body than rubies, Their cut like sapphire.

8Their appearance has become blacker than soot; They have become unrecognised in the streets; Their skin has shrivelled on their bones, It has become dry, it has become as wood.

9Better off were those pierced by the sword Than those pierced by hunger; For these pine away, Pierced through for lack of the fruits of the field.

10The hands of the compassionate women Have boiled their own children; They became food for them In the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11יהוה has completed His wrath, He has poured out His burning displeasure. And He kindled a fire in Tsiyon, And it consumed her foundations.

12The sovereigns of the earth did not believe, Nor any of the inhabitants of the world, That an adversary and enemy Would enter the gates of Yerushalayim.

13It was because of the sins of her prophets, The crookednesses of her priests, Who shed in her midst the blood of the righteous.

14They staggered, blind, in the streets; They have defiled themselves with blood, So that no one was able to touch their garments.

15They shouted at them, “Away! Unclean! Away! Away! Touch not!” When they fled and staggered, They said, among the gentiles, “They shall stay no longer.”

16The face of יהוה scattered them. He no longer regards them. They showed no respect for the priests Nor favour to the elders.

17While we exist, our eyes are consumed, Watching vainly for our help. In our watch-tower we watched for a nation That could not save.

18They have hunted our steps From going in our streets. Our end was near, Our days were completed, For our end had come.

19Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the heavens. They came hotly after us on the mountains And lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

20The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of יהוה, Was caught in their pits, In whose shadow we had thought To live among the gentiles.

21Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Eḏom, You who dwell in the land of Uz! The cup is to pass over to you too, So that you become drunk and make yourself naked.

22Your crookedness has been completed, O daughter of Tsiyon. He no longer prolongs your exile. He shall punish your crookedness, O daughter of Eḏom, He shall uncover your sins!