Lamentations 4:1-11

The Holy Stones Lie Scattered

1 1How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The holy stones lie scattered 2at the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in 3fine gold, how they are regarded as 4earthen pots, the work of a potter's hands!
3 Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the nursing infant 5sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; 6the children beg for food, but no one gives to them.
5 Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; 7those who were brought up in purple embrace ash heaps.
6 8For the chastisement[a] of the daughter of my people has been greater than the punishment[b] of Sodom, 9which was overthrown in a moment, and no hands were wrung for her.[c]
7 Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, the beauty of their form[d] was like sapphire.[e]
8 10Now their face is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood.
9 Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field.
10 11The hands of 12compassionate women 13have boiled their own children; 14they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 15The LORD gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and 16he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations.

Cross References 16

  • 1. [Isaiah 1:22; Jeremiah 6:30]
  • 2. Lamentations 2:19
  • 3. Psalms 19:10
  • 4. See Jeremiah 19:11
  • 5. Psalms 22:15
  • 6. [Lamentations 2:11]
  • 7. [2 Samuel 1:24]
  • 8. Matthew 10:15; Luke 10:12
  • 9. Genesis 19:25; 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 7
  • 10. Lamentations 5:10; Job 30:30; [Psalms 119:83]
  • 11. See Jeremiah 19:9
  • 12. [1 Kings 3:26; Isaiah 49:15]
  • 13. [2 Kings 6:29]
  • 14. Deuteronomy 28:57
  • 15. Ezekiel 5:13
  • 16. See Jeremiah 17:27

Footnotes 5

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.