Lamentations 4

Zion Is Punished

1 How [the] gold has grown dim, the pure gold has changed. The stones of holiness are scattered at the head of every street.

2 The precious sons of Zion weighed against fine gold, how they are thought of as earthen vessels of clay, the work of the potter's hands.

3 Even the jackal bears the beast and nurses their cubs; [but] the daughter of my people has become ruthless, like ostriches in the wilderness.

4 The tongue of the nursling cleaves to its palate in thirst. Children beg [for] food, {no one lays it out before them}.

5 The ones who eat delicacies, they are ruined in the streets; the ones nurtured in purple lie [on] piles of trash.

6 The iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom; it was overthrown in a moment and no hands were laid on her.

7 Her princes were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; [their] bodies were more ruddy than rubies, sapphire their appearance.

8 [Now] their appearance is blacker than soot, they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones, it has become dry like wood.

9 Happier were [the] victims of [the] sword than the victims of famine; they have pined away, very hungry for the crops of my field.

10 [The] hands of compassionate women, have cooked their children; they became as something to eat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11 Yahweh has completed his anger, he has poured out {his fierce anger}; he has kindled a fire in Zion, it consumed her foundations.

12 [The] kings of [the] earth did not believe, and all [the] inhabitants of [the] world, that a foe and an enemy could enter into the gates of Jerusalem.

13 Because of the sins of her prophets, the guilt of her priests, who shed blood in her midst, of righteous people.

14 They wander blindly in the streets; they were defiled with the blood, their clothes could not be touched.

15 "Go away! Defiled!" they shout to them. "Go away! Go away! Do not touch!" so they left, they left; it was said among the nations, "{They will no longer dwell with us}."

16 The presence of Yahweh has scattered them, he will no longer watch over them; {they did not honor the priests}, they did not show mercy [to] elders.

17 Still our eyes failed, [looking for] our help in vain; in our watchtower, we kept watch for a nation that could not save.

18 They hunted our steps, from walking in our streets; our end has come near, {our days are finished}, our end has come.

19 Our pursuers were swifter than [the] eagles of [the] heavens; they chased us on the mountains, they have set an ambush for us in the desert.

20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed one of Yahweh, was captured in their pits; of whom we said, "In his shadow we will live among the nations."

21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup will pass, you will become drunk and strip yourself bare.

22 The [punishment] of your iniquity is completed, O daughter of Zion, your exile will not continue; [but] he will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will reveal your sins.

Lamentations 4 Commentary

Chapter 4

The deplorable state of the nation is contrasted with its ancient prosperity.

Verses 1-12 What a change is here! Sin tarnishes the beauty of the most exalted powers and the most excellent gifts; but that gold, tried in the fire, which Christ bestows, never will be taken from us; its outward appearance may be dimmed, but its real value can never be changed. The horrors of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem are again described. Beholding the sad consequences of sin in the church of old, let us seriously consider to what the same causes may justly bring down the church now. But, Lord, though we have gone from thee in rebellion, yet turn to us, and turn our hearts to thee, that we may fear thy name. Come to us, bless us with awakening, converting, renewing, confirming grace.

Verses 13-20 Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the measure faster, than the sins of priests and prophets. The king himself cannot escape, for Divine vengeance pursues him. Our anointed King alone is the life of our souls; we may safely live under his shadow, and rejoice in Him in the midst of our enemies, for He is the true God and eternal life.

Verses 21-22 Here it is foretold that an end should be put to Zion's troubles. Not the fulness of punishment deserved, but of what God has determined to inflict. An end shall be put to Edom's triumphs. All the troubles of the church and of the believer will soon be accomplished. And the doom of their enemies approaches. The Lord will bring their sins to light, and they shall lie down in eternal sorrow. Edom here represents all the enemies of the church. And the corruption, and sin of Israel, which the prophet has proved to be universal, justifies the judgments of the Lord. It shows the need of that grace in Christ Jesus, which the sin and corruption of all mankind make so necessary.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "nothing spreads to them"
• [b]. Literally "the fierce anger of his nose"
• [c]. Or "its"
• [d]. Literally "They will no longer be [here] as aliens"
• [e]. Literally "they did not lift up the faces of the priests"
• [f]. Literally "our days are filled"

Chapter Summary

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.