Lamentations 4

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.

7 Her consecrated ones were ¹²purer than snow, They were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than corals, Their polishing was like ¹³lapis lazuli.

8 Their appearance is ¹⁴blacker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their ¹⁵skin is shriveled on their bones, It is withered, it has become like wood.

9 Better are those ¹⁶slain with the sword Than those slain with hunger; For they ¹⁷pine away, being stricken For lack of the fruits of the field.

10 The hands of compassionate women ¹⁸Boiled their own children; They became ¹⁹food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11 The LORD has ²⁰accomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has ²¹kindled a fire in Zion Which has consumed its foundations.

12 The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of ²²the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Could ²³enter the gates of Jerusalem.

13 Because of the sins of her ²⁴prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The ²⁵blood of the righteous;

14 They wandered, ²⁶blind, in the streets; They were defiled with ²⁷blood So that no one could touch their ²⁸garments.

15 "Depart! ²⁹Unclean!" they cried of themselves. "Depart, depart, do not touch!" So they ³⁰fled and wandered; Men among the nations said, "They shall not continue to dwell with us."

16 The presence of the LORD has scattered them, He will not continue to regard them; They did not ³¹honor * the priests, They did not favor the elders.

17 Yet our eyes failed, Looking for help was ³²useless; In our watching we have watched For a ³³nation that could not save.

18 They ³⁴hunted our steps So that we could not walk in our streets; Our ³⁵end drew near, Our days were finished For our end had come.

19 Our pursuers were ³⁶swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They chased us on the mountains, They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.

20 The ³⁷breath of our nostrils, the ³⁸LORD'S anointed, Was ³⁹captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, "Under his ⁴⁰shadow We shall live among the nations."

21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of ⁴¹Edom, Who dwells in the land of Uz; But the ⁴²cup will come around to you as well, You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

22 The punishment of your iniquity has been ⁴³completed, O daughter of Zion; He will exile you no longer. But He ⁴⁴will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will expose 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.

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
• 12. Psalms 51:7
• 13. Exodus 24:10; Job 28:16
• 14. Job 30:30; Lamentations 5:10
• 15. Job 19:20; Psalms 102:3-5
• 16. Jeremiah 16:4
• 17. Leviticus 26:39; Ezekiel 24:23
• 18. Leviticus 26:29; Deuteronomy 28:57; 2 Kings 6:29; Jeremiah 19:9; Lamentations 2:20; Ezekiel 5:10
• 19. Deuteronomy 28:53-55
• 20. Jeremiah 7:20; Lamentations 2:17; Ezekiel 22:31
• 21. Deuteronomy 32:22; Jeremiah 17:27
• 22. Deuteronomy 29:24
• 23. Jeremiah 21:13
• 24. Jeremiah 5:31; Jeremiah 6:13; Lamentations 2:14; Ezekiel 22:26-28
• 25. Jeremiah 2:30; Jeremiah 26:8, 9; Matthew 23:31
• 26. Deuteronomy 28:28, 29; Isaiah 29:10; Isaiah 56:10; Isaiah 59:9, 10
• 27. Isaiah 1:15
• 28. Jeremiah 2:34
• 29. Leviticus 13:45, 46
• 30. Jeremiah 49:5
• 31. Isaiah 9:14-16; Jeremiah 52:24-27
• 32. Jeremiah 37:7; Lamentations 1:7
• 33. Ezek 29:6, 7, 16
• 34. Jeremiah 16:16
• 35. Jeremiah 5:31; Ezekiel 7:2-12; Amos 8:2
• 36. Isaiah 5:26-28; Isaiah 30:16, 17; Jeremiah 4:13; Habakkuk 1:8
• 37. Genesis 2:7
• 38. 2 Samuel 1:14; 2 Samuel 19:21
• 39. Jeremiah 39:5; Jeremiah 52:9
• 40. Daniel 4:12
• 41. Psalms 137:7; Jeremiah 25:21
• 42. Obadiah 16
• 43. Isaiah 40:2; Jeremiah 33:7, 8
• 44. Jeremiah 49:10; Malachi 1:3, 4

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "head"
• [b]. Lit "established in crimson"
• [c]. Or "punishment for iniquity"
• [d]. Or "punishment for sin"
• [e]. Or "wrung over her"
• [f]. Or "Nazirites"
• [g]. Lit "bones"
• [h]. Heb "sappir"
• [i]. Lit "pierced"
• [j]. Lit "pierced"
• [k]. Lit "flow away"
• [l]. Lit "my fields"
• [m]. Or "they" (men) "cried to them"
• [n]. Lit "lift up the faces of"
• [o]. Lit "our help"
• [p]. Lit "full"

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.