| Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1How the gold has become tarnished, the fine gold become dull! The stones of the temple lie scattered at the head of every street. | 1How the gold has lost its luster! Even the finest gold has become dull. The sacred gemstones lie scattered in the streets! |
| 2Zion’s precious children --once worth their weight in pure gold --how they are regarded as clay jars, the work of a potter’s hands! | 2See how the precious children of Jerusalem, worth their weight in fine gold, are now treated like pots of clay made by a common potter. |
| 3Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but my dear people have become cruel like ostriches in the wilderness. | 3Even the jackals feed their young, but not my people Israel. They ignore their children’s cries, like ostriches in the desert. |
| 4The nursing baby’s tongue clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst. Infants beg for food, but no one gives them any. | 4The parched tongues of their little ones stick to the roofs of their mouths in thirst. The children cry for bread, but no one has any to give them. |
| 5Those who used to eat delicacies are destitute in the streets; those who were reared in purple garments huddle in trash heaps. | 5The people who once ate the richest foods now beg in the streets for anything they can get. Those who once wore the finest clothes now search the garbage dumps for food. |
| 6The punishment of my dear people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in an instant without a hand laid on it. | 6The guilt of my people is greater than that of Sodom, where utter disaster struck in a moment and no hand offered help. |
| 7Her dignitaries were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, their appearance like lapis lazuli. | 7Our princes once glowed with health— brighter than snow, whiter than milk. Their faces were as ruddy as rubies, their appearance like fine jewels. |
| 8Now they appear darker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become dry like wood. | 8But now their faces are blacker than soot. No one recognizes them in the streets. Their skin sticks to their bones; it is as dry and hard as wood. |
| 9Those slain by the sword are better off than those slain by hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce. | 9Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger. Starving, they waste away for lack of food from the fields. |
| 10The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children; they became their food during the destruction of my dear people. | 10Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege. |
| 11The LORD has exhausted his wrath, poured out his burning anger; he has ignited a fire in Zion, and it has consumed her foundations. | 11But now the anger of the LORD is satisfied. His fierce anger has been poured out. He started a fire in Jerusalem that burned the city to its foundations. |
| 12The kings of the earth and all the world’s inhabitants did not believe that an enemy or adversary could enter Jerusalem’s gates. | 12Not a king in all the earth— no one in all the world— would have believed that an enemy could march through the gates of Jerusalem. |
| 13Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous within her. | 13Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the sins of her priests, who defiled the city by shedding innocent blood. |
| 14Blind, they stumbled in the streets, defiled by this blood, so that no one dared to touch their garments. | 14They wandered blindly through the streets, so defiled by blood that no one dared touch them. |
| 15“Stay away! Unclean! ” people shouted at them. “Away, away! Don’t touch us! ” So they wandered aimlessly. It was said among the nations, “They can stay here no longer.” | 15“Get away!” the people shouted at them. “You’re defiled! Don’t touch us!” So they fled to distant lands and wandered among foreign nations, but none would let them stay. |
| 16The LORD himself has scattered them; he no longer watches over them. The priests are not respected; the elders find no favor. | 16The LORD himself has scattered them, and he no longer helps them. People show no respect for the priests and no longer honor the leaders. |
| 17All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help; we watched from our towers for a nation that would not save us. | 17We looked in vain for our allies to come and save us, but we were looking to nations that could not help us. |
| 18Our steps were closely followed so that we could not walk in our streets. Our end approached; our time ran out. Our end had come! | 18We couldn’t go into the streets without danger to our lives. Our end was near; our days were numbered. We were doomed! |
| 19Those who chased us were swifter than eagles in the sky; they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness. | 19Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight. If we fled to the mountains, they found us. If we hid in the wilderness, they were waiting for us there. |
| 20The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their traps. We had said about him, “We will live under his protection among the nations.” | 20Our king—the LORD’s anointed, the very life of our nation— was caught in their snares. We had thought that his shadow would protect us against any nation on earth! |
| 21So rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom, you resident of the land of Uz! Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself. | 21Are you rejoicing in the land of Uz, O people of Edom? But you, too, must drink from the cup of the LORD’s anger. You, too, will be stripped naked in your drunkenness. |
| 22Daughter Zion, your punishment is complete; he will not lengthen your exile. But he will punish your iniquity, Daughter Edom, and will expose your sins. | 22O beautiful Jerusalem, your punishment will end; you will soon return from exile. But Edom, your punishment is just beginning; soon your many sins will be exposed. |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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