Lamentations 4:1-8

1 See how the gold has lost its shine, how the pure gold has dulled! at every street corner.

2 The precious people of Jerusalem were more valuable than gold, but now they are thought of as clay jars made by the hands of a potter.

3 Even wild dogs give their milk to feed their young, but my people are cruel like ostriches in the desert.

4 The babies are so thirsty their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths. Children beg for bread, but no one gives them any.

5 Those who once ate fine foods are now starving in the streets. People who grew up wearing nice clothes now pick through trash piles.

6 My people have been punished more than Sodom was. Sodom was destroyed suddenly, and no hands reached out to help her.

7 Our princes were purer than snow, and whiter than milk. Their bodies were redder than rubies; they looked like sapphires.

8 But now they are blacker than coal, and no one recognizes them in the streets. Their skin hangs on their bones; it is as dry as wood.

Lamentations 4:1-8 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.