1How the gold has grown dim! How the finest gold has changed! The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the top of every street.
2The precious sons of Zion were worth their weight in fine gold. How they are now counted as clay jars, the work of the potter's hands!
3Even the sea monsters give the breast and nurse their young. But the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4The tongue of the nursing child sticks to the roof of his mouth from thirst. The young children ask for bread, and no one breaks it for them.
5Those who once ate fine food now lie helpless in the streets. Those who were brought up in scarlet now lie on heaps of ashes.
6For the punishment of the sin of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom. Sodom was overthrown in a moment, and no hands were laid on her.
7Her Nazarites were purer than snow; they were whiter than milk. Their bodies were redder than rubies, and they shone like sapphire.
8Now their faces are blacker than coal; they are not known in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones; it is dried up, and has become like a stick.
9Those killed by the sword are better off than those killed by hunger. For these waste away, pierced through for lack of the fruits of the field.
10The hands of tender-hearted women have boiled their own children. Their children were their food when the daughter of my people was destroyed.
11The LORD has carried out his fury; he has poured out his fierce anger. He has lit a fire in Zion, and it has eaten up her foundations.
12The kings of the earth, and all who live in the world, would not have believed that the foe and the enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
13It was for the sins of her prophets and the wrongs of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous in her midst.
14They have wandered like blind men in the streets. They have made themselves unclean with blood, so that no one could touch their clothes.
15People cried out to them, "Go away! It is unclean! Go away, go away, do not touch!" When they fled and wandered, it was said among the nations, "They shall stay here no longer."
16The anger of the LORD has scattered them; he will look on them no more. They showed no respect to the priests, and no favour to the elders.
17As for us, our eyes failed as we looked for help that was useless. We watched and watched for a nation that could not save us.
18They hunt our steps, so that we cannot walk in our streets. Our end is near, our days are finished, for our end has come.
19Those who chase us are swifter than the eagles of the sky. They pursued us over the mountains; they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was caught in their pits. We had said of him, "Under his shadow we shall live among the nations."
21Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, you who live in the land of Uz. The cup will pass to you as well. You will be drunk, and will strip yourself naked.
22The punishment of your sin is complete, daughter of Zion; he will not carry you away into captivity again. But he will punish your sin, daughter of Edom; he will uncover your sins.