7. Our princes were undefiled and pure as snow,vigorous and strong, glowing with health.
8. Now they lie unknown in the streets, their faces blackened in death;their skin, dry as wood, has shrivelled on their bones.
9. Those who died in the war were better off than those who died later,who starved slowly to death, with no food to keep them alive.
10. The disaster that came to my people brought horror;loving mothers boiled their own children for food.
11. The Lord turned loose the full force of his fury;he lit a fire in Zion that burnt it to the ground.
12. No one anywhere, not even rulers of foreign nations,believed that any invader could enter Jerusalem's gates.
13. But it happened because her prophets sinned and her priests were guiltyof causing the death of innocent people.
14. Her leaders wandered through the streets like the blind,so stained with blood that no one would touch them.
15. “Go away!” people shouted. “You're defiled! Don't touch me!”So they wandered from nation to nation, welcomed by no one.
16. The Lord had no more concern for them; he scattered them himself.He showed no regard for our priests and leaders.
17. For help that never came, we looked until we could look no longer.We kept waiting for help from a nation that had none to give.
18. The enemy was watching for us; we could not even walk in the streets.Our days were over; the end had come.
19. Swifter than eagles swooping from the sky, they chased us down.They tracked us down in the hills; they took us by surprise in the desert.