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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 ESV</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><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="../">ESV</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">English Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/esv/nas/lamentations/4.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div></a><div class="chap">The Holy Stones Lie Scattered<a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-1.htm">1</a>How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The holy stones lie scattered at the head of every street. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-2.htm">2</a>The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen pots, the work of a potter’s hands! <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-3.htm">3</a>Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young; but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-4.htm">4</a>The tongue of the nursing infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives to them. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-5.htm">5</a>Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple embrace ash heaps. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-6.htm">6</a>For the chastisement<a href="#footnotes" title="Or iniquity">a</a> of the daughter of my people has been greater than the punishment<a href="#footnotes" title="Or sin">b</a> of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and no hands were wrung for her.<a href="#footnotes" title="The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain">c</a> <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-7.htm">7</a>Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, the beauty of their form<a href="#footnotes" title="The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain">d</a> was like sapphire.<a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew lapis lazuli">e</a> <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-8.htm">8</a>Now their face is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-9.htm">9</a>Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-10.htm">10</a>The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-11.htm">11</a>The Lord gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-12.htm">12</a>The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-13.htm">13</a>This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-14.htm">14</a>They wandered, blind, through the streets; they were so defiled with blood that no one was able to touch their garments. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-15.htm">15</a>“Away! Unclean!” people cried at them. “Away! Away! Do not touch!” So they became fugitives and wanderers; people said among the nations, “They shall stay with us no longer.” <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-16.htm">16</a>The Lord himself<a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew The face of the LORD">f</a> has scattered them; he will regard them no more; no honor was shown to the priests, no favor to the elders. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-17.htm">17</a>Our eyes failed, ever watching vainly for help; in our watching we watched for a nation which could not save. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-18.htm">18</a>They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; our end drew near; our days were numbered, for our end had come. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-19.htm">19</a>Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles in the heavens; they chased us on the mountains; they lay in wait for us in the wilderness. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-20.htm">20</a>The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed, was captured in their pits, of whom we said, “Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.” <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-21.htm">21</a>Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare. <a href="http://biblehub.com/lamentations/4-22.htm">22</a>The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished; he will keep you in exile no longer;<a href="#footnotes" title="Or he will not exile you again">g</a> but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish; he will uncover your sins.<A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF">Footnotes: a 6 Or iniquity b 6 Or sin c 6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain d 7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain e 7 Hebrew lapis lazuli f 16 Hebrew The face of the Lord g 22 Or he will not exile you again </div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">ESV Text Edition® (2016). 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