Lamentations 4

All 22 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1How the gold has lost its shine! How the purest gold has tarnished! The sacred stones of the temple lie scattered at every street corner.
2. 2The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they regarded as earthen pitchers, the work of a potter's hands!
3. 3Even the sea monsters draw out the breast and nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4. 4Nursing babies' tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths from thirst. Little children beg for bread, but no one gives them any.
5. 5Those who once ate delicacies are now desolate in the streets; those who were raised in scarlet now embrace dunghills.
6. 6The punishment for the wrongdoing of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment for the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and no hands were laid on her.
7. 7Her Nazarites were purer than snow, whiter than milk. Their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, and they were polished like sapphire.
8. 8Now their faces are blacker than soot; no one recognizes them in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones, shriveled and dry as a stick.
9. 9Those killed by the sword are better off than those killed by hunger, because the starving waste away slowly, pierced through by the lack of food from the fields.
10. 10Compassionate mothers cooked their own children with their own hands. Their babies became their food during the destruction of my people.
11. 11The LORD has completed his fury; he has poured out his fierce anger and started a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations.
12. 12The kings of the earth, and all the people of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy would enter the gates of Jerusalem.
13. 13Because of the sins of her prophets and the wrongdoing of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous in the middle of her,
14. 14They stumbled through the streets like blind men, so stained with blood that no one dared to touch even their clothes.
15. 15"Get away!" people shouted at them. "You're unclean! Get away! Get away! Don't touch us!" So they fled and wandered, and among the nations, it was said, "They shall no longer stay here."
16. 16The anger of the LORD has scattered them; he will no longer regard them. They did not respect the priests or favor the elders.
17. 17We wore out our eyes watching for help that never came. From our watchtowers we kept looking for a nation to rescue us, but it couldn't save us.
18. 18They stalked our every step so we couldn't even walk through our own streets. Our end was closing in. Our days were numbered, because our end had come.
19. 19Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of heaven. They chased us across the mountains and set ambushes for us in the wilderness.
20. 20The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was caught in their traps, of whom we said, 'Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.'
21. 21Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, who lives in the land of Uz. The cup will also pass to you; you will become drunk and strip yourself naked.
22. 22The punishment for your wrongdoing is complete, daughter of Zion; he will not carry you away into captivity again. He will punish your wrongdoing, daughter of Edom; he will uncover your sins.