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Lamentations 4
Wycliffe Bible
Lamentations 4
Wycliffe Bible
4 How is gold made dark, the best colour is changed? the stones of the saintuary be scattered in the head of all streets. (How the gold is made dark, the best colour is changed! the stones from the sanctuary be scattered at the head, or at the top, of every street.)
2 The noble sons of Zion, and clothed with the best gold, how be they areckoned into earthen vessels, into the work of the hands of a potter? (The noble sons of Zion, and clothed with the best gold, how they be reckoned like clay vessels, yea, the work of the hands of a potter!)
3 But also lamias made naked their teats, gave milk to their whelps; (but) the daughter of my people is cruel, as an ostrich in desert (like an ostrich in the wilderness).
4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaved to his palate in thirst; little children asked (for) bread, and none was that brake to them (but no one gave them any).
5 They that ate lustfully, perished in ways; they that were nourished in cradles, embraced turds. (They who ate lustfully, perished on the ways; they who were nourished in cradles, hung onto dung.)
6 And the wickedness of the daughter of my people is made more than the sin of (the) men of Sodom, that was destroyed in a moment, and hands took not therein.
7 (The) Nazarites thereof were whiter than snow, shininger than milk; ruddier than eld ivory, fairer than sapphire (redder than old ivory, more beautiful than sapphire).
8 The face of them was made blacker than coals, and they were not known in (the) streets; the skin cleaved to their bones, it dried, and was made as a stick (it dried up, and was made like a stick).
9 It was better to men slain with sword, than to men slain with hunger; for these men waxed rotten, they were wasted of the barrenness of [the] earth. (It was better for those who were killed with the sword, than for those killed by hunger; for these people slowly grew rotten, and they wasted away for the barrenness of the land.)
10 The hands of merciful women seethed their children; they were made the meats of those women in the sorrow of the daughter of my people. (The hands of merciful women boiled their own children; they were made the food for those women in the horror of the wounding of my people.)
11 The Lord [ful]filled his strong vengeance, he shedded out the ire of his indignation (he poured out his anger); and the Lord kindled a fire in Zion, and it devoured the foundaments thereof.
12 The kings of [the] earth, and all the dwellers of the world believed not (and all the inhabitants of the world could not believe it), that an adversary and [the] enemy should enter in by the gates of Jerusalem.
13 For the sins of the prophets thereof, and for [the] wickednesses of priests thereof, that shedded out the blood of just men in the midst thereof. (For the sins of its prophets, and for the wickednesses of its priests, who poured out the blood of the just in its midst.)
14 Blind men erred in streets, they were defouled in blood (They wandered about like the blind in the streets, they were defiled in blood); and when they might not go, they held (onto) their hems.
15 They cried to them, Depart away, ye defouled men, depart ye, go ye away, do not ye touch; forsooth they chided, and were stirred; they said among heathen men (they said among the heathen), God shall no more add to, that he dwell among them.
16 The face of the Lord parted them, he shall no more lay to, that he behold them; they were not ashamed of the faces of priests, neither they had mercy on eld men (they were not ashamed before the priests, nor did they have any mercy for the elders).
17 The while we stood yet, our eyes failed to our vain help; when we beheld attentive to a folk, that might not save us. (Yet while we stood, our eyes looked in vain for our help; we looked attentively for a nation, that could not save us.)
18 Our steps were slidery in the way of our streets; our end nighed, our days were [ful]filled, for our end came.
19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of heaven; they pursued us on [the] hills, they setted ambushments to us in desert. (Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens; they pursued us over the hills, they set ambush for us in the wilderness.)
20 The spirit of our mouth, Christ the Lord, was taken in our sins; to whom we said, We shall live in thy shadow among heathen men. (The very breath of our mouth, yea, the Lord’s anointed king, was caught in their sins; he of whom we had said, We shall live under thy shadow, among the heathen.)
21 Thou daughter of Edom, make joy, and be glad, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup shall come also to thee, thou shalt be made drunken, and shalt be made bare. (O daughter of Edom, rejoice, and be happy, thou who livest in the land of Uz; the cup shall also come to thee, and thou shalt be made drunk, and shalt be made naked.)
22 Thou daughter of Zion, thy wickedness is [ful]filled; he shall not add more, that he make thee to pass over (again into captivity); thou daughter of Edom, he shall visit thy wickedness, he shall uncover thy sins (O daughter of Edom, he shall punish thy wickedness, he shall uncover thy sins).
Lamentations 4
New International Version
Lamentations 4
New International Version
4 [a]How the gold has lost its luster,
the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered
at every street corner.(A)
2 How the precious children of Zion,(B)
once worth their weight in gold,
are now considered as pots of clay,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but my people have become heartless
like ostriches in the desert.(C)
4 Because of thirst(D) the infant’s tongue
sticks to the roof of its mouth;(E)
the children beg for bread,
but no one gives it to them.(F)
5 Those who once ate delicacies
are destitute in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple(G)
now lie on ash heaps.(H)
6 The punishment of my people
is greater than that of Sodom,(I)
which was overthrown in a moment
without a hand turned to help her.
7 Their princes were brighter than snow
and whiter than milk,
their bodies more ruddy than rubies,
their appearance like lapis lazuli.
8 But now they are blacker(J) than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;(K)
it has become as dry as a stick.
9 Those killed by the sword are better off
than those who die of famine;(L)
racked with hunger, they waste away
for lack of food from the field.(M)
10 With their own hands compassionate women
have cooked their own children,(N)
who became their food
when my people were destroyed.
11 The Lord has given full vent to his wrath;(O)
he has poured out(P) his fierce anger.(Q)
He kindled a fire(R) in Zion
that consumed her foundations.(S)
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the peoples of the world,
that enemies and foes could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.(T)
13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,(U)
who shed within her
the blood(V) of the righteous.
14 Now they grope through the streets
as if they were blind.(W)
They are so defiled with blood(X)
that no one dares to touch their garments.
15 “Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them.
“Away! Away! Don’t touch us!”
When they flee and wander(Y) about,
people among the nations say,
“They can stay here no longer.”(Z)
16 The Lord himself has scattered them;
he no longer watches over them.(AA)
The priests are shown no honor,
the elders(AB) no favor.(AC)
17 Moreover, our eyes failed,
looking in vain(AD) for help;(AE)
from our towers we watched
for a nation(AF) that could not save us.
18 People stalked us at every step,
so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near, our days were numbered,
for our end had come.(AG)
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than eagles(AH) in the sky;
they chased us(AI) over the mountains
and lay in wait for us in the desert.(AJ)
20 The Lord’s anointed,(AK) our very life breath,
was caught in their traps.(AL)
We thought that under his shadow(AM)
we would live among the nations.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Wycliffe Bible (WYC)
2001 by Terence P. Noble
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.