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 of the daughter of my people has been greater than the punishment of Sodom,
9which was overthrown in a moment, and no hands were wrung for her.
7
Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, the beauty of their form was like sapphire.
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.