Online Bible

Distress of the Siege Described

How ^adark the gold has become,How the pure gold has changed!The sacred stones are spilled outAt the ¹corner of every street.2 The precious sons of Zion,Weighed against pure gold,How they are regarded as ^aearthenware jars,The work of a potter’s hands!3 Even ^ajackals offer the breast,They nurse their young;But the daughter of my people has proved herself ^bcruel,Like ^costriches in the wilderness.4 The ^atongue of the infant clingsTo the roof of its mouth because of ^bthirst;The children ^cask for bread,But no one breaks it for them.5 Those who used to eat ^adelicaciesAre made to tremble in the streets;Those who were raised in crimson clothingEmbrace garbage heaps.6 For the ¹wrongdoing of the daughter of my peopleIs greater than the ²^asin of Sodom,Which was ^boverthrown as in a moment,³And no hands were turned toward her.7 Her ¹consecrated ones were ^apurer than snow,They shined more than milk;They were more ruddy in ²body than pearls of coral,Their form was like ³^blapis lazuli.8 Their appearance is ^adarker than soot,They are not recognized in the streets;Their ^bskin is shriveled on their bones,It is dry, it has become like wood.9 Better off are those ^akilled by the swordThan those killed by hunger;For they ¹^bwaste away, ²strickenBy the lack of the produce of the field.10 The hands of compassionate women^aBoiled their own children;They became ^bfood for themDue to the destruction of the daughter of my people.11 The LORD has ^aexpended His wrath,He has poured out His fierce anger;And He has ^bkindled a fire in Zion,And it has consumed its foundations.12 The kings of the earth did not believe,Nor did any of ^athe inhabitants of the world,That the adversary and the enemyWould ^benter the gates of Jerusalem.13 Because of the sins of her ^aprophetsAnd the wrongdoings of her priests,Who have shed in her midstThe ^bblood of the righteous,14 They wandered, ^ablind, in the streets;They were defiled with ^bblood,Such that no one could touch their ^cgarments.15 “Keep away! ^aUnclean!” ¹they cried out of themselves.“Keep away, keep away, do not touch!”For they ^bdistanced themselves as well as wandered;People among the nations said,“They shall not continue to reside with us.”16 The presence of the LORD has scattered them,He will not continue to look at them;They did not ¹^ahonor the priests,They did not favor the elders.17 Yet our eyes failed,Looking for ¹help was ^auseless;At our observation point we have watchedFor a ^bnation that could not save.18 They ^ahunted our stepsSo that we could not walk in our streets;Our ^bend drew near,Our days were ¹finishedFor our end had come.19 Our pursuers were ^aswifterThan the eagles of the sky;They chased us on the mountains,They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.20 The ^abreath of our nostrils, the ^bLORD’S anointed,Was ^ccaptured in their pits,Of whom we had said, “¹In his ^dshadowWe shall live among the nations.”21 Rejoice and be joyful, daughter of ^aEdom,Who lives in the land of Uz;But the ^bcup will pass to you as well,You will become drunk and expose yourself.22 The punishment of your wrongdoing has been ^acompleted, daughter of Zion;He will no longer exile you.But He ^bwill punish your wrongdoing, daughter of Edom;He will expose your sins!