[4:1] Our glittering gold has grown dull; the stones of the Temple lie scattered in the streets.
[4:2] Zion's young people were as precious to us as gold, but now they are treated like common clay pots.
[4:3] Even a mother wolf will nurse her cubs, but my people are like ostriches, cruel to their young.
[4:4] They let their babies die of hunger and thirst; children are begging for food that no one will give them.
[4:5] People who once ate the finest foods die starving in the streets; those raised in luxury are pawing through garbage for food.
[4:6] My people have been punished even more than the inhabitants of Sodom, which met a sudden downfall at the hands of God.
[4:7] Our princes were undefiled and pure as snow, vigorous and strong, glowing with health.
[4:8] Now they lie unknown in the streets, their faces blackened in death; their skin, dry as wood, has shriveled on their bones.
[4:9] 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.
[4:10] The disaster that came to my people brought horror; loving mothers boiled their own children for food.
[4:11] The Lord turned loose the full force of his fury; he lit a fire in Zion that burned it to the ground.
[4:12] No one anywhere, not even rulers of foreign nations, believed that any invader could enter Jerusalem's gates.
[4:13] But it happened, because her prophets sinned and her priests were guilty of causing the death of innocent people.
[4:14] Her leaders wandered through the streets as though blind, so stained with blood that no one would touch them.
[4:15] “Get away!” people shouted. “You're defiled! Don't touch me!” So they wandered from nation to nation, welcomed by no one.
[4:16] The Lord had no more concern for them; he scattered them himself. He showed no regard for our priests and leaders.
[4:17] 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.
[4:18] The enemy was watching for us; we could not even walk in the streets. Our days were over; the end had come.
[4:19] 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.
[4:20] They captured the source of our life, the king the Lord had chosen, the one we had trusted to protect us from every invader.
[4:21] Laugh on, people of Edom and Uz; be glad while you can. Your disaster is coming too; you too will stagger naked in shame.
[4:22] 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.