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 4,21 Klgl 4,21
They take crafty counsel against thy people,And consult together against thy hidden ones.
They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation;That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
For they have consulted together with one consent;Against thee do they make a covenant:
The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;Moab, and the {Or, Hagrites See 1 Chronicles 5:10.}Hagarenes;
Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre:
Assyria also is joined with them;They have {Hebrew: been an arm to the children of Lot.}helped the children of Lot. [Selah
Do thou unto them as unto Midian,As to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon;
Who perished at Endor,Who became as dung for the earth.
Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb;Yea, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna;
Who said, Let us take to ourselves in possessionThe {Or, pastures}habitations of God.
These are the children of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from it.
For Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he hath {Hebrew: devoted.}utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
And all the host of heaven shall {Or, moulder away}be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig-tree.
For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my {Hebrew: devoting, or, ban.}curse, to judgment.
The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
And the wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
And the streams {Hebrew: thereof.}of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the {Or, bittern}owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the {Hebrew: stones.}plummet of emptiness.
{Or, As for her nobles, none shall be there to proclaim the kingdom}They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing.
And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches.
And the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the {Hebrew: howling creatures.}wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yea, {Hebrew: Lilith.}the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest.
There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yea, there shall the kites be gathered, every one with her mate.
Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it hath commanded, and his Spirit, it hath gathered them.
And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
For Jehovah brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he had {Or, cast away restraint}dealt wantonly in Judah, and trespassed sore against Jehovah.
Remember, O Jehovah, against the children of EdomThe day of Jerusalem;Who said, Rase it, rase it,Even to the foundation thereof.
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was {Hebrew: Iyob.}Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and turned away from evil.
Who is this that cometh from Edom, with {Or, crimsoned}dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat?
I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yea, I {Or, will tread…and trample}trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their {Or, strength}lifeblood {Or, shall be}is sprinkled upon my garments, and I {Or, will stain}have stained all my raiment.
For the day of vengeance {Or, is}was in my heart, and {Or, my year of redemption}the year of my redeemed is come.
And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my wrath, it upheld me.
And {Or, I will tread…and make…and I will pour out}I trod down the peoples in mine anger, and {Or, according to another reading, brake them in pieces}made them drunk in my wrath, and I {Or, brought down their strength to the earth}poured out their lifeblood on the earth.
Pass away, O {Hebrew: inhabitress.}inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame: the {Hebrew: inhabitress.}inhabitant of Zaanan is not come forth; the wailing of Beth-ezel shall take from you the {Or, standing-place}stay thereof.
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
For thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto me: Take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
Then took I the cup at Jehovah's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom Jehovah had sent me:
to wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of the Uz, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon;
and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the {Or, coast-land}isle which is beyond the sea;
Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off;
and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the wilderness;
and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;
and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink ye, and be drunken, and spew, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Ye shall surely drink.
For, lo, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah of hosts.
(Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.)
For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast clapped thy hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the despite of thy soul against the land of Israel;
For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, they {Or, whose judgement was not}to whom it pertained not to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the nations;
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them;
therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will stretch out my hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even unto Dedan shall they fall by the sword.
And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gate of the peoples; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste:
and say unto it, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against thee, and I will make thee a desolation and an astonishment.
I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.
Because thou hast had a perpetual enmity, and hast given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the {Or, punishment}iniquity of the end;
therefore, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: since thou hast not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue thee.
Thus will I make mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him that passeth through and him that returneth.
And I will fill its mountains with its slain: in thy hills and in thy valleys and in all thy watercourses shall they fall that are slain with the sword.
I will make thee a perpetual desolation, and thy cities shall not {Another reading is, return}be inhabited; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
therefore, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast showed out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, {Or, according as}when I shall judge thee.
And thou shalt know {Or, that I am Jehovah; I have heard &c.}that I, Jehovah, have heard all thy revilings which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, {Or, It is}They are laid desolate, they are given us to devour.
And ye have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard it.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.
As thou didst rejoice over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and {Hebrew: corrupted his compassions.}did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever.
For the violence done to thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
In the day that thou stoodest {Or, aloof}on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his {Or, forces}substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
But look not thou on the day of thy brother in {Or, the day that he was made a stranger}the day of his disaster, and rejoice not over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither speak proudly in the day of distress.
Enter not into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, look not thou on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither lay ye hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.
And stand thou not in the crossway, to cut off those of his that escape; and deliver not up those of his that remain in the day of distress.
For the day of Jehovah is near upon all the nations: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy {Or, recompense}dealing shall return upon thine own head.
For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and {Or, talk foolishly}swallow down, and shall be as though they had not been.
The vision of Obadiah.Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Edom: We have heard tidings from Jehovah, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
For the violence done to thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
In the day that thou stoodest {Or, aloof}on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his {Or, forces}substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
But look not thou on the day of thy brother in {Or, the day that he was made a stranger}the day of his disaster, and rejoice not over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither speak proudly in the day of distress.
Enter not into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, look not thou on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither lay ye hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.
And stand thou not in the crossway, to cut off those of his that escape; and deliver not up those of his that remain in the day of distress.
I have loved you, saith Jehovah. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? {Or, Is not Esau…yet I have loved &c.}Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith Jehovah: yet I loved Jacob;
but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.
{Or, Though Edom say}Whereas Edom saith, We are {Or, as otherwise read, impoverished}beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places; thus saith Jehovah of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and men shall call them The border of wickedness, and The people against whom Jehovah hath indignation for ever.