117 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
117 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
Terrors of the Besieged City
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# Chapter 4
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1. How the gold has become tarnished,
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the fine gold become dull!
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The stones of the temple lie scattered
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at the head of every street.
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2. Zion's precious children--
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once worth their weight in pure gold--
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how they are regarded as clay jars,
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the work of a potter's hands!
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3. Even jackals offer their breasts
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to nurse their young,
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but my dear people have become cruel
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like ostriches in the wilderness.
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4. The nursing baby's tongue
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clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst.
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Infants beg for food,
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but no one gives them any.
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5. Those who used to eat delicacies
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are destitute in the streets;
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those who were reared in purple garments
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huddle in trash heaps.
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6. The punishment of my dear people
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is greater than that of Sodom,
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which was overthrown in an instant
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without a hand laid on it.
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7. Her dignitaries were brighter than snow,
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whiter than milk;
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their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
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their appearance like lapis lazuli.
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8. Now they appear darker than soot;
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they are not recognized in the streets.
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Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
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it has become dry like wood.
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9. Those slain by the sword are better off
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than those slain by hunger,
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who waste away, pierced with pain
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because the fields lack produce.
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10. The hands of compassionate women
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have cooked their own children;
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they became their food
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during the destruction of my dear people.
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11. The Lord has exhausted his wrath,
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poured out his burning anger;
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he has ignited a fire in Zion,
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and it has consumed her foundations.
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12. The kings of the earth
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and all the world's inhabitants did not believe
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that an enemy or adversary
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could enter Jerusalem's gates.
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13. Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets
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and the iniquities of her priests,
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who shed the blood of the righteous within her.
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14. Blind, they stumbled in the streets,
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defiled by this blood,
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so that no one dared
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to touch their garments.
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15. "Stay away! Unclean!" people shouted at them.
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"Away, away! Don't touch us!"
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So they wandered aimlessly.
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It was said among the nations,
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"They can stay here no longer."
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16. The Lord himself has scattered them;
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he no longer watches over them.
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The priests are not respected;
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the elders find no favor.
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17. All the while our eyes were failing
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as we looked in vain for help;
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we watched from our towers
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for a nation that would not save us.
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18. Our steps were closely followed
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so that we could not walk in our streets.
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Our end approached; our time ran out.
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Our end had come!
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19. Those who chased us were swifter
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than eagles in the sky;
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they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains
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and ambushed us in the wilderness.
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20. The Lord's anointed, the breath of our life,
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was captured in their traps.
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We had said about him,
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"We will live under his protection among the nations."
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21. So rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom,
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you resident of the land of Uz!
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Yet the cup will pass to you as well;
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you will get drunk and expose yourself.
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22. Daughter Zion, your punishment is complete;
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he will not lengthen your exile.
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But he will punish your iniquity, Daughter Edom,
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and will expose your sins.
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