How is the gold become dim! how is the most pure gold changed!
The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street.
The precious sons of Zion, {Hebrew: that may be weighted against.}comparable to fine gold,
How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
Even the jackals draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones:
The daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst:
The young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets:
They that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
For the {Or, the punishment of the inquity}iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than {Or, the punishment of sin}the sin of Sodom,
That was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands {Or, fell See 2 Samuel 2:29. }were laid upon her.
Her {Or, Nazirites}nobles were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in body than {Or, corals}rubies, their polishing was as of sapphire.
Their visage is {Hebrew: darker than blackness.}blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets:
Their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.
They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger;
For these {Hebrew: flow away.}pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the field.
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children;
They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Jehovah hath accomplished his wrath, he hath poured out his fierce anger;
And he hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath devoured the foundations thereof.
The kings of the earth believed not, neither all the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.
It is because of the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests,
That have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.
They wander as blind men in the streets, they are polluted with blood,
So that men cannot touch their garments.
Depart ye, they cried unto them, Unclean! depart, depart, touch not!
{Or, Yea}When they fled away and wandered, men said among the nations, They shall no more sojourn here.
The {Hebrew: face.}anger of Jehovah hath scattered them; he will no more regard them:
They respected not the persons of the priests, they favored not the elders.
Our eyes do yet fail in looking for our vain help:
In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.
They hunt our steps, so that we cannot go in our streets:
Our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens:
They chased us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits;
Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz:
The cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
{Or, Thine iniquity hath an end}The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity:
He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will uncover thy sins.
Querverweise zu Klagelieder 4,8 Klgl 4,8
Our skin is {Or, hot}black like an oven,Because of the burning heat of famine.
How is the gold become dim! how is the most pure gold changed!The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street.
My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh,And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
In the night season my bones are {Or, corroded and drop away from me}pierced {Hebrew: from off.}in me,And {Or, my sinews take &c.}the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
By God's great force is my garment disfigured;It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
He hath cast me into the mire,And I am become like dust and ashes.
The precious sons of Zion, {Hebrew: that may be weighted against.}comparable to fine gold,How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen;And his bones that were not seen stick out.
My skin is black, and falleth from me,And my bones are burned with heat.
So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and the women said, Is this Naomi?
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me:My moisture was changed {Or, into the}as with the drought of summer. [Selah
At their presence the peoples are in anguish; all faces are waxed pale.
And she said unto them, Call me not {That is, Pleasant.}Naomi, call me {That is, Butter.}Mara; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine indignation;Neither is there any {Or, rest}health in my bones because of my sin.
She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale.
And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his robe, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.
For my days consume away {Or, in smoke}like smoke,And my bones are burned {Or, as a hearth}as a firebrand.
My heart is smitten like grass, and withered;For I forget to eat my bread.
By reason of the voice of my groaningMy bones cleave to my flesh.
Like as many were astonished at thee (his visage was so marred {Or, from that of man, and his form from that of the sons of men}more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men),
My days are like a shadow that {Or, is stretched out}declineth;And I am withered like grass.
For I am become like a wine-skin in the smoke;Yet do I not forget thy statutes.