6
My people have been punished more than Sodom was. It was destroyed in a moment. No one offered it a helping hand.
7
Jerusalem's princes were brighter than snow. They were whiter than milk. Their bodies were redder than rubies. They looked like sapphires.
8
But now they are blacker than coal. No one even recognizes them in the streets. Their skin is wrinkled on their bones. It has become as dry as a stick.
9
Those who have been killed with swords are better off than those who have to die of hunger. Those who are hungry waste away to nothing. They don't have any food from the fields.
10
With their own hands, loving mothers have had to cook even their own children. They ate their children when my people were destroyed.
11
The LORD has become very angry. He has poured out his burning anger. He started a fire in Zion. It burned up the very foundations.
12
The kings of the earth couldn't believe what was happening. Neither could any of the world's people. Enemies actually attacked and entered the gates of Jerusalem.
13
It happened because Jerusalem's prophets had sinned. Its priests had done evil things. All of them spilled the blood of those who did what was right.
14
Now those prophets and priests have to feel their way along the streets like people who are blind. The blood of those they killed has made them "unclean." So no one dares even to touch their clothes.
15
"Go away! You are 'unclean'!" people cry out to them. "Go away! Get out of here! Don't touch us!" So they run away and wander around. Then people among the nations say, "They can't stay here anymore."
16
The LORD himself has scattered them. He doesn't watch over them anymore. No one shows the priests any respect. No one honors the elders.