9Better are those slain with the sword
         Than those slain with hunger;
         For they pine away, being stricken
         For lack of the fruits of the field.

10The hands of compassionate women
         Boiled their own children;
         They became food for them
         Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11The LORD has accomplished His wrath,
         He has poured out His fierce anger;
         And He has kindled a fire in Zion
         Which has consumed its foundations.

12The kings of the earth did not believe,
         Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world,
         That the adversary and the enemy
         Could enter the gates of Jerusalem.

13Because of the sins of her prophets
         And the iniquities of her priests,
         Who have shed in her midst
         The blood of the righteous;

14They wandered, blind, in the streets;
         They were defiled with blood
         So that no one could touch their garments.

15“Depart! Unclean!” they cried of themselves.
         “Depart, depart, do not touch!”
         So they fled and wandered;
         Men among the nations said,
         “They shall not continue to dwell with us.”

16The presence of the LORD has scattered them,
         He will not continue to regard them;
         They did not honor the priests,
         They did not favor the elders.

17Yet our eyes failed,
         Looking for help was useless;
         In our watching we have watched
         For a nation that could not save.

18They hunted our steps
         So that we could not walk in our streets;
         Our end drew near,
         Our days were finished
         For our end had come.

19Our pursuers were swifter
         Than the eagles of the sky;
         They chased us on the mountains,
         They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.

20The breath of our nostrils, the LORD’S anointed,
         Was captured in their pits,
         Of whom we had said, “Under his shadow
         We shall live among the nations.”

21Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
         Who dwells in the land of Uz;
         But the cup will come around to you as well,
         You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

22The punishment of your iniquity has been completed, O daughter of Zion;
         He will exile you no longer.
         But He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
         He will expose your sins!

NASB ©1995

Lamentations 4:9 NIV
Lamentations 4:9 NLT
Lamentations 4:9 ESV
Lamentations 4:9 NASB
Lamentations 4:9 KJV

Lamentations 4:9 Commentaries

Bible Hub