90 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
90 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 4
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1 How the gold has lost its luster!
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Even the finest gold has become dull.
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The sacred gemstones
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lie scattered in the streets!
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2 See how the precious children of Jerusalem,
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worth their weight in fine gold,
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are now treated like pots of clay
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made by a common potter.
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3 Even the jackals feed their young,
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but not my people Israel.
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They ignore their children’s cries,
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like ostriches in the desert.
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4 The parched tongues of their little ones
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stick to the roofs of their mouths in thirst.
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The children cry for bread,
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but no one has any to give them.
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5 The people who once ate the richest foods
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now beg in the streets for anything they can get.
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Those who once wore the finest clothes
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now search the garbage dumps for food.
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6 The guilt of my people
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is greater than that of Sodom,
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where utter disaster struck in a moment
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and no hand offered help.
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7 Our princes once glowed with health—
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brighter than snow, whiter than milk.
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Their faces were as ruddy as rubies,
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their appearance like fine jewels.
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8 But now their faces are blacker than soot.
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No one recognizes them in the streets.
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Their skin sticks to their bones;
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it is as dry and hard as wood.
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9 Those killed by the sword are better off
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than those who die of hunger.
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Starving, they waste away
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for lack of food from the fields.
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10 Tenderhearted women
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have cooked their own children.
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They have eaten them
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to survive the siege.
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11 But now the anger of the Lord is satisfied.
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His fierce anger has been poured out.
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He started a fire in Jerusalem
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that burned the city to its foundations.
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12 Not a king in all the earth—
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no one in all the world—
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would have believed that an enemy
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could march through the gates of Jerusalem.
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13 Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets
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and the sins of her priests,
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who defiled the city
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by shedding innocent blood.
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14 They wandered blindly
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through the streets,
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so defiled by blood
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that no one dared touch them.
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15 “Get away!” the people shouted at them.
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“You’re defiled! Don’t touch us!”
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So they fled to distant lands
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and wandered among foreign nations,
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but none would let them stay.
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16 The Lord himself has scattered them,
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and he no longer helps them.
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People show no respect for the priests
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and no longer honor the leaders.
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17 We looked in vain for our allies
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to come and save us,
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but we were looking to nations
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that could not help us.
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18 We couldn’t go into the streets
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without danger to our lives.
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Our end was near; our days were numbered.
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We were doomed!
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19 Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight.
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If we fled to the mountains, they found us.
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If we hid in the wilderness,
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they were waiting for us there.
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20 Our king—the Lord’s anointed, the very life of our nation—
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was caught in their snares.
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We had thought that his shadow
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would protect us against any nation on earth!
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21 Are you rejoicing in the land of Uz,
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O people of Edom?
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But you, too, must drink from the cup of the Lord’s anger.
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You, too, will be stripped naked in your drunkenness.
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22 O beautiful Jerusalem, your punishment will end;
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you will soon return from exile.
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But Edom, your punishment is just beginning;
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soon your many sins will be exposed. |