Lamentations 4:7-9

Tree of Life Version

⁷ Purer than snow were her princes,^[a]
    whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
    their appearance like sapphire.
⁸ Their form has become darker than soot!
    They are not recognized in the street.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones,
    withered like a tree.
⁹ Better are those slain by the sword
    than those struck down by famine—
they waste away, racked with pain,
    for lack of fruits of the field.