Lamentations 4

New Catholic Bible

¹ How the gold has become tarnished,
    how the pure gold has lost its luster!
The sacred stones lie scattered
    at every street corner.
² The precious sons of Zion
    were formerly worth their weight in gold.
Now they are reckoned as no more valuable
    than clay jars fashioned by a potter.
³ Even jackals bare their breasts
    and nurse their young.
But the daughters of my people have become
    as cruel as ostriches^[a] in the desert.
⁴ The tongue of an infant
    sticks to the roof of its mouth in thirst.
Little children beg for bread,
    but no one offers them a crumb.
⁵ Those who once feasted on delicacies
    now lie dying in the streets.
Those who once wore purple garments
    now grovel in rubbish heaps.
⁶ The punishment inflicted on my people
    has been greater than that of Sodom,
which was overthrown in an instant
    without a hand being lifted to help her.
⁷ Her princes were once brighter than snow
    and whiter than milk.
Their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
    more precious than sapphire.
⁸ Now their faces are blacker than soot,
    and no one recognizes them in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled tightly over their bones,
    as dry as a stick.
⁹ More blessed were those who died by the sword
    than those who died of hunger,
with their limbs wasting away,
    deprived of the produce of the field.
¹⁰ With their own hands, compassionate women
    have boiled their own children;
those offspring became their food
    when my people were on the verge of extinction,
¹¹ The Lord let his blazing anger pour forth
    and gave full vent to his wrath
as he kindled a fire in Zion
    that devoured her foundations.
¹² The kings of the earth never believed,
    nor did any of the inhabitants of the world,
that any adversary or enemy
    could ever penetrate the gates of Jerusalem.
¹³ That occurred because of the sins of her prophets
    and the crimes of her priests
who had shed within her walls
    the blood of the righteous.^[b]
14 They staggered blindly in the streets,
    so defiled with blood
that not one of the people dared
    to touch their garments.
¹⁵ “Go away! You are unclean!” the people shouted.
    “Keep away! Do not touch us!”
Wherever they fled, the people would cry out,
    “You cannot stay here any longer!”
¹⁶ The Lord himself scattered them;
    he no longer watches over them.
He showed no favor to the priests
    or kindness to the elders.
¹⁷ Continually we strained our eyes,
    looking in vain for help.
From our towers we watched endlessly
    for a nation that could not save us.
¹⁸ Men dogged our steps
    so that we were unable to walk in our streets.
Our end drew near; our days were numbered;
    our time had come.
¹⁹ Our pursuers were swifter
    than eagles in the heavens.
They hounded us over the mountains
    and lay in ambush for us in the wilderness.
²⁰ The Lord’s anointed,^[c] our breath of life,
    was caught in their traps,
he in whose shadow we thought
    that we could live in safety among the nations.
²¹ Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
    you who live in the land of Uz.
But to you also the cup will be passed;
    you will become drunk and strip yourself naked.
²² O daughter of Zion, your punishment is now complete;
    he will not prolong your exile.
But, daughter of Edom, he will punish your iniquity,
    and he will lay bare your sins.