Lamentations 4:1-6

Distress of the Siege Described

1 How ¹dark the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out At the corner of every street.

2 The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they are regarded as ²earthen jars, The work of a potter's hands!

3 Even ³jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become ⁴cruel Like ⁵ostriches in the wilderness.

4 The ⁶tongue of the infant cleaves To the roof of its mouth because of ⁷thirst; The little ones ⁸ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.

5 Those who ate ⁹delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those reared in purple Embrace ash pits.

6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the ¹⁰sin of Sodom, Which was ¹¹overthrown as in a moment, And no hands were turned toward her.

Lamentations 4:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LAMENTATIONS 4

The prophet begins this chapter with a complaint of the ill usage of the dear children of God, and precious sons of Zion, La 4:1,2; relates the dreadful effects of the famine during the siege of Jerusalem, La 4:3-10; the taking and destruction of that city he imputes to the wrath of God; and represents it as incredible to the kings and inhabitants of the earth, La 4:11,12; the causes of which were the sins of the prophets, priests, and people, La 4:13-16; expresses the vain hopes they once had, but now were given up entirely, their king being taken, La 4:17-20; and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy of the destruction of the Edomites, and of the return of the Jews from captivity, La 4:21,22.

Cross References

• 1. Ezekiel 7:19-22
• 2. Isaiah 30:14; Jeremiah 19:1, 11
• 3. Isaiah 13:22; Isaiah 34:13
• 4. Isaiah 49:15; Ezekiel 5:10
• 5. Job 39:14-17
• 6. Psalms 22:15
• 7. Jeremiah 14:3
• 8. Lamentations 2:12
• 9. Jeremiah 6:2; Amos 6:3-7
• 10. Genesis 19:24
• 11. Genesis 19:25; Jeremiah 20:16

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "head"
• [b]. Lit "established in crimson"
• [c]. Or "punishment for iniquity"
• [d]. Or "punishment for sin"
• [e]. Or "wrung over her"