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 4,19 Klgl 4,19
Jehovah will bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
And {Or, refuge shall fail the swift}flight shall perish from the swift; and the strong shall not strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver {Hebrew: his soul (or, life).}himself;
And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss for {Hebrew: him.}them from the end of the earth; and, behold, {Hebrew: he (and in the following verses).}they shall come with speed swiftly.
None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hoofs shall be accounted as flint, and their wheels as a whirlwind:
I saw the Lord standing {Or, upon}beside the altar: and he said, Smite the capitals, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: {Or, he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered}there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.
And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
but ye said, No, for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
One thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as {Or, a pole}a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.
Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are ruined.
{Or, The trumpet to thy mouth! As an eagle against the house of Jehovah!}Set the trumpet to thy mouth. As an eagle he cometh against the house of Jehovah, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen {Or, spread themselves}press proudly on: yea, their horsemen come from far; they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour.
For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the {Greek: presence.}coming of the Son of man.
Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the {Or, vultures}eagles be gathered together.