Parallel Bible results for "lamentations 4"

Lamentations 4

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 How dark has the gold become! how changed the best gold! the stones of the holy place are dropping out at the top of every street.

2 The valued sons of Zion, whose price was the best gold, are looked on as vessels of earth, the work of the hands of the potter!

3 Even the beasts of the waste land have full breasts, they give milk to their young ones: the daughter of my people has become cruel like the ostriches in the waste land.

4 The tongue of the child at the breast is fixed to the roof of his mouth for need of drink: the young children are crying out for bread, and no man gives it to them.

5 Those who were used to feasting on delicate food are wasted in the streets: those who as children were dressed in purple are stretched out on the dust.

6 For the punishment of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of Sodom, which was overturned suddenly without any hand falling on her.

7 Her holy ones were cleaner than snow, they were whiter than milk, their bodies were redder than corals, their form was as the sapphire:

8 Their face is blacker than night; in the streets no one has knowledge of them: their skin is hanging on their bones, they are dry, they have become like wood.

9 Those who have been put to the sword are better off than those whose death is caused by need of food; for these come to death slowly, burned up like the fruit of the field.

10 The hands of kind-hearted women have been boiling their children; they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11 The Lord has given full effect to his passion, he has let loose his burning wrath; he has made a fire in Zion, causing the destruction of its bases.

12 To the kings of the earth and to all the people of the world it did not seem possible that the attackers and the haters would go into the doors of Jerusalem.

13 It is because of the sins of her prophets and the evil-doing of her priests, by whom the blood of the upright has been drained out in her.

14 They are wandering like blind men in the streets, they are made unclean with blood, so that their robes may not be touched by men.

15 Away! unclean! they were crying out to them, Away! away! let there be no touching: when they went away in flight and wandering, men said among the nations, There is no further resting-place for them.

16 The face of the Lord has sent them in all directions; he will no longer take care of them: they had no respect for the priests, they gave no honour to the old men.

17 Our eyes are still wasting away in looking for our false help: we have been watching for a nation unable to give salvation.

18 They go after our steps so that we may not go in our streets: our end is near, our days are numbered; for our end has come.

19 Those who went after us were quicker than the eagles of the heaven, driving us before them on the mountains, waiting secretly for us in the waste land.

20 Our breath of life, he on whom the holy oil was put, was taken in their holes; of whom we said, Under his shade we will be living among the nations.

21 Have joy and be glad, O daughter of Edom, living in the land of Uz: the cup will be given to you in your turn, and you will be overcome with wine and your shame will be seen.

22 The punishment of your evil-doing is complete, O daughter of Zion; never again will he take you away as a prisoner: he will give you the reward of your evil-doing, O daughter of Edom; he will let your sin be uncovered.

Good News Translation GNT

1 Our glittering gold has grown dull; the stones of the Temple lie scattered in the streets.

2 Zion's young people were as precious to us as gold, but now they are treated like common clay pots.

3 Even a mother wolf will nurse her cubs, but my people are like ostriches, cruel to their young.

4 They let their babies die of hunger and thirst; children are begging for food that no one will give them.

5 People who once ate the finest foods die starving in the streets; those raised in luxury are pawing through garbage for food.

6 My people have been punished even more than the inhabitants of Sodom, which met a sudden downfall at the hands of God.

7 Our princes were undefiled and pure as snow, vigorous and strong, glowing with health.

8 Now they lie unknown in the streets, their faces blackened in death; their skin, dry as wood, has shriveled on their bones.

9 Those who died in the war were better off than those who died later, who starved slowly to death, with no food to keep them alive.

10 The disaster that came to my people brought horror; loving mothers boiled their own children for food.

11 The Lord turned loose the full force of his fury; he lit a fire in Zion that burned it to the ground.

12 No one anywhere, not even rulers of foreign nations, believed that any invader could enter Jerusalem's gates.

13 But it happened, because her prophets sinned and her priests were guilty of causing the death of innocent people.

14 Her leaders wandered through the streets as though blind, so stained with blood that no one would touch them.

15 "Get away!" people shouted. "You're defiled! Don't touch me!" So they wandered from nation to nation, welcomed by no one.

16 The Lord had no more concern for them; he scattered them himself. He showed no regard for our priests and leaders.

17 For help that never came, we looked until we could look no longer. We kept waiting for help from a nation that had none to give.

18 The enemy was watching for us; we could not even walk in the streets. Our days were over; the end had come.

19 Swifter than eagles swooping from the sky, they chased us down. They tracked us down in the hills; they took us by surprise in the desert.

20 They captured the source of our life, the king the Lord had chosen, the one we had trusted to protect us from every invader.

21 Laugh on, people of Edom and Uz; be glad while you can. Your disaster is coming too; you too will stagger naked in shame.

22 Zion has paid for her sin; the Lord will not keep us in exile any longer. But Edom, the Lord will punish you; he will expose your guilty acts.