“How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.
Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:
Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.
They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.
The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The Lord hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.
The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,
They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.” – Lamentations 4:1-14 (KJV)
1 [a] How dull the gold has become! How the fine gold has lost its shimmer!
Sacred stones are poured out at the corner of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion, who were worth their weight in gold,
now are treated like clay jars, the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer a breast and nurse their young,
but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like an ostrich in the wilderness.
4 The baby’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth because of thirst.
Children ask for bread, but no one shares with them.
5 Those who ate delicacies have become desolate in the streets.
Those who were dressed in scarlet have embraced piles of trash.
6 The guilt of the daughter of my people was greater than the sin of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment, though no hands turned against her.
7 Her consecrated ones[b] were brighter than snow. They were whiter than milk.
Their bones were redder than rubies; their facets shined like sapphires.
8 Now their faces have become the darkest black. They cannot be recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones. It is as dry as a stick of wood.
9 Those cut down by the sword are better off than those cut down by hunger,
those who waste away, pierced with pain, with no crops to eat from the field.
10 The hands of compassionate women boiled their children.
Their children became their food when the daughter of my people was broken.
11 The Lord carried out his wrath. He poured out his burning anger.
He kindled a fire in Zion, and it consumed her foundations.
12 The kings of the earth and the world’s inhabitants never believed
that foe and enemy would enter the gates of Jerusalem.
13 The reason this happened was the sin of her prophets and the guilt of her priests,
who shed the blood of the righteous in her midst.
14 Those blind men staggered in the streets. They were defiled with blood,
so people could not touch their garments. – 4:1-14 (EHV)
Footnotes
[a] Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an alphabetic acrostic. There are 22 verses in the chapter, and there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
[b] Lamentations 4:7 Or Nazirites
https://thelivingtruthfellowship.org/pdf/None_Dare_Call_It_Conspiracy.pdf?mc_cid=ef7a4755e0&mc_eid=16afa0c3fa