Lamentations 4

1 Aleph — How the gold has grown dim and the fine silver has changed! The holy stones lie scattered at the entrance of every street.

2 Beth — The precious sons of Zion were valued like gold. How they are now counted as clay jars, the work of a potter’s hands!

3 Gimel — Even dragons bare their breasts and nurse their young, but the daughters of my people are past curing, like an ostrich in the wilderness.

4 Daleth — The nursing child’s tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth from thirst. Little children ask for bread, but no one breaks it for them.

5 He — Those who ate delicacies lie desolate in the streets. Those raised in scarlet now wrap themselves in dung.

6 Vau — The lawlessness of the daughter of my people became greater than the lawlessness of Sodom, which was overthrown in an instant without human hands laboring against her.

7 Zain — Her nazirs were purer than snow and shone whiter than milk; their polished form was ruddier than sapphire.

8 Heth — Their faces became darker than soot, and no one recognized them in the streets. Their skin clung to their bones; they dried up and became like wood.

9 Teth — Those wounded by the sword were better off than those wounded by hunger. They wasted away, pierced through for lack of the fields’ produce.

10 Jod — The hands of tenderhearted women boiled their own children. Their children became food for them when the daughter of my people was shattered.

11 Chaph — The Lord completed his fury and poured out his fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion, and it consumed her foundations.

12 Lamed — The kings of the earth and all who live in the world did not believe that an enemy and oppressor could enter through Jerusalem’s gates.

13 Mem — This happened because of the sins of her prophets and the wrongdoing of her priests, who shed righteous blood within her.

14 Nun — Her watchers staggered in the streets and were defiled with blood. In their weakness they touched their own clothing.

15 Samech — “Get away from the unclean!” they called. “Get away! Get away! Do not touch them!” For they were inflamed and staggering. Say among the nations, “They will sojourn here no longer.”

16 Ain — The presence of the Lord was their portion, but he will no longer look on them. They did not honor the priests or show mercy to the elders.

17 Phe — While we still lived, our eyes failed as we looked in vain for help. We watched for a nation that could not rescue us.

18 Tsade — We hunted down our little ones to keep them from walking in our streets. Our time drew near, our days were completed, and our time arrived.

19 Koph — Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky. They flew over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

20 Resh — The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed one, was caught in their destructive traps. We had said, “We will live under his shadow among the nations.”

21 Sin — Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom who lives in the land. Yet the Lord’s cup will pass to you; you will become drunk and pour yourself out.

22 Thau — Your lawlessness has come to an end, daughter of Zion; he will no longer carry you into exile. He has visited your lawless deeds, daughter of Edom, and uncovered your ungodly acts.