Lamentations 4:1-22 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.