Lamentations 4

1 ow the gold has lost its luster! How the fine gold has changed! How the stones of the sanctuary lie scattered at every streetcorner!

2 The precious sons of Tziyon, as precious as fine gold -to think they are now worth no more than clay jars made by a potter!

3 Even jackals bare their breasts in order to nurse their young, but the daughters of my people have become as cruel as ostriches in the desert.

4 The tongue of the baby at the breast sticks to the roof of its mouth from thirst; young children are begging for bread, but no one is giving them any.

5 People who once ate only the best lie dying in the streets; those who were raised wearing purple are clawing at piles of garbage.

6 For the offense of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of S'dom, which was overthrown in an instant, without a hand to help her.

7 Her princes were purer than snow; they were whiter than milk, their bodies more ruddy than pink pearls, as beautiful as sapphires.

8 Now their faces are blacker than coal; in the streets they go unrecognized. Their skin has shriveled over their bones and become as dry as a stick.

9 Those slain by the sword are better off than those who are dying from hunger; since these waste away as if pierced through, for lack of food from the fields.

10 With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children; their children became their food when the daughter of my people was destroyed.

11 ADONAI has finished with his fury, he has poured out his blazing wrath; he kindled a fire in Tziyon that consumed its very foundations.

12 The kings of the earth could not believe, neither could anyone living in the world, that enemy or foe would ever enter the gates of Yerushalayim.

13 It happened because of the sins of her prophets and the offenses of her cohanim, who, within her walls, shed the blood of the righteous.

14 They wander in the streets like the blind; they are so polluted with blood that nobody is able even to touch their clothing.

15 "Keep away! Unclean!" people shout at them, "Keep away! Away! Don't touch us!"They flee, to wander here and there; but no nation allows them to stay.

16 ADONAI himself scattered them; he will no longer look after them; they had no respect for cohanim and showed no kindness to the leaders.

17 As for us, our eyes are worn out from looking in vain for help; we kept on watching and watching for a nation that couldn't save us.

18 They keep dogging our steps, so that we can't go out in our streets. Our end is near, our time is up; yes, our end has come.

19 Those who pursued us were swifter than eagles in the sky. They chased us over the mountains and waylaid us in the desert.

20 ADONAI's anointed, our life-breath, was caught in their pits; though of him we had said, "Under his protection, we can live among the nations."

21 Rejoice, be glad, daughter of Edom, who lives in the land of 'Utz. To you too the cup will pass; you will get drunk and strip yourself naked!

22 Your offenses, daughter of Tziyon, are atoned for; he will keep you in exile no longer. Your offenses, daughter of Edom, he will punish; he will expose your sins.

Lamentations 4 Commentary

Chapter 4

The deplorable state of the nation is contrasted with its ancient prosperity.

Verses 1-12 What a change is here! Sin tarnishes the beauty of the most exalted powers and the most excellent gifts; but that gold, tried in the fire, which Christ bestows, never will be taken from us; its outward appearance may be dimmed, but its real value can never be changed. The horrors of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem are again described. Beholding the sad consequences of sin in the church of old, let us seriously consider to what the same causes may justly bring down the church now. But, Lord, though we have gone from thee in rebellion, yet turn to us, and turn our hearts to thee, that we may fear thy name. Come to us, bless us with awakening, converting, renewing, confirming grace.

Verses 13-20 Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the measure faster, than the sins of priests and prophets. The king himself cannot escape, for Divine vengeance pursues him. Our anointed King alone is the life of our souls; we may safely live under his shadow, and rejoice in Him in the midst of our enemies, for He is the true God and eternal life.

Verses 21-22 Here it is foretold that an end should be put to Zion's troubles. Not the fulness of punishment deserved, but of what God has determined to inflict. An end shall be put to Edom's triumphs. All the troubles of the church and of the believer will soon be accomplished. And the doom of their enemies approaches. The Lord will bring their sins to light, and they shall lie down in eternal sorrow. Edom here represents all the enemies of the church. And the corruption, and sin of Israel, which the prophet has proved to be universal, justifies the judgments of the Lord. It shows the need of that grace in Christ Jesus, which the sin and corruption of all mankind make so necessary.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO LAMENTATIONS 4

The prophet begins this chapter with a complaint of the ill usage of the dear children of God, and precious sons of Zion, La 4:1,2; relates the dreadful effects of the famine during the siege of Jerusalem, La 4:3-10; the taking and destruction of that city he imputes to the wrath of God; and represents it as incredible to the kings and inhabitants of the earth, La 4:11,12; the causes of which were the sins of the prophets, priests, and people, La 4:13-16; expresses the vain hopes they once had, but now were given up entirely, their king being taken, La 4:17-20; and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy of the destruction of the Edomites, and of the return of the Jews from captivity, La 4:21,22.