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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Lamentations 4 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/lamentations/4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/lamentations/4-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > Lamentations 4</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../lamentations/3.htm" title="Lamentations 3">◄</a> Lamentations 4 <a href="../lamentations/5.htm" title="Lamentations 5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/lamentations/4.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">God’s Anger Satisfied</p><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>How the gold has lost its luster!</p><p class="line2">Even the finest gold has become dull.</p><p class="line1">The sacred gemstones</p><p class="line2">lie scattered in the streets!</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>See how the precious children of Jerusalem,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a></p><p class="line2">worth their weight in fine gold,</p><p class="line1">are now treated like pots of clay</p><p class="line2">made by a common potter.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Even the jackals feed their young,</p><p class="line2">but not my people Israel.</p><p class="line1">They ignore their children’s cries,</p><p class="line2">like ostriches in the desert.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>The parched tongues of their little ones</p><p class="line2">stick to the roofs of their mouths in thirst.</p><p class="line1">The children cry for bread,</p><p class="line2">but no one has any to give them.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>The people who once ate the richest foods</p><p class="line2">now beg in the streets for anything they can get.</p><p class="line1">Those who once wore the finest clothes</p><p class="line2">now search the garbage dumps for food.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>The guilt<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a> of my people</p><p class="line2">is greater than that of Sodom,</p><p class="line1">where utter disaster struck in a moment</p><p class="line2">and no hand offered help.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Our princes once glowed with health—</p><p class="line2">brighter than snow, whiter than milk.</p><p class="line1">Their faces were as ruddy as rubies,</p><p class="line2">their appearance like fine jewels.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a></p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>But now their faces are blacker than soot.</p><p class="line2">No one recognizes them in the streets.</p><p class="line1">Their skin sticks to their bones;</p><p class="line2">it is as dry and hard as wood.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Those killed by the sword are better off</p><p class="line2">than those who die of hunger.</p><p class="line1">Starving, they waste away</p><p class="line2">for lack of food from the fields.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Tenderhearted women</p><p class="line2">have cooked their own children.</p><p class="line1">They have eaten them</p><p class="line2">to survive the siege.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>But now the anger of the LORD is satisfied.</p><p class="line2">His fierce anger has been poured out.</p><p class="line1">He started a fire in Jerusalem<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a></p><p class="line2">that burned the city to its foundations.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Not a king in all the earth—</p><p class="line2">no one in all the world—</p><p class="line1">would have believed that an enemy</p><p class="line2">could march through the gates of Jerusalem.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets</p><p class="line2">and the sins of her priests,</p><p class="line1">who defiled the city</p><p class="line2">by shedding innocent blood.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>They wandered blindly</p><p class="line2">through the streets,</p><p class="line1">so defiled by blood</p><p class="line2">that no one dared touch them.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>“Get away!” the people shouted at them.</p><p class="line2">“You’re defiled! Don’t touch us!”</p><p class="line1">So they fled to distant lands</p><p class="line2">and wandered among foreign nations,</p><p class="line2">but none would let them stay.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>The LORD himself has scattered them,</p><p class="line2">and he no longer helps them.</p><p class="line1">People show no respect for the priests</p><p class="line2">and no longer honor the leaders.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>We looked in vain for our allies</p><p class="line2">to come and save us,</p><p class="line1">but we were looking to nations</p><p class="line2">that could not help us.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>We couldn’t go into the streets</p><p class="line2">without danger to our lives.</p><p class="line1">Our end was near; our days were numbered.</p><p class="line2">We were doomed!</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight.</p><p class="line2">If we fled to the mountains, they found us.</p><p class="line1">If we hid in the wilderness,</p><p class="line2">they were waiting for us there.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>Our king—the LORD’s anointed, the very life of our nation—</p><p class="line2">was caught in their snares.</p><p class="line1">We had thought that his shadow</p><p class="line2">would protect us against any nation on earth!</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Are you rejoicing in the land of Uz,</p><p class="line2">O people of Edom?</p><p class="line1">But you, too, must drink from the cup of the LORD’s anger.</p><p class="line2">You, too, will be stripped naked in your drunkenness.</p><p class="b"/><p class="line1"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>O beautiful Jerusalem,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">e</span></a> your punishment will end;</p><p class="line2">you will soon return from exile.</p><p class="line1">But Edom, your punishment is just beginning;</p><p class="line2">soon your many sins will be exposed.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">4:2 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">precious sons of Zion.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">4:6 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">punishment.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">4:7 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">like lapis lazuli.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">4:11 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">in Zion.</span><br><span class="fn">e</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">4:22 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="it">O daughter of Zion.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. 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