Lamentations 4:9-22 ▼

9 Better are those pierced through with the sword Than those pierced through with hunger; For their life flows away, being stricken For lack of the produce 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 Yahweh has spent His wrath; He has poured out His burning anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion Which has devoured 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.

13 Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the righteous;

14 They wandered, blind, in the streets; They were defiled with blood So that no one could touch their garments.

15 “Depart! Unclean!” they cried of themselves. “Depart, depart, do not touch!” So they fled and wandered; Men among the nations said, “They shall not continue to sojourn with us.”

16 The presence of Yahweh has eradicated them; He will not continue to look at them; They did not honor the priests; They did not favor the elders.

17 Yet our eyes were spent, Looking for help was vanity; In our watching we have watched For a nation that could not save.

18 They hunted our steps So that we could not walk in our open squares; Our end drew near, Our days were finished, For our end had come.

19 Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They hotly pursued us on the mountains; They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.

20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Yahweh, Was captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, “Under his shadow We shall live among the nations.”

21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, Who inhabits the land of Uz; But the cup will pass on to you as well; You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

22 The punishment of your iniquity has come to an end, O daughter of Zion; He will exile you no longer. But He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins!