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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.