1. How the gold has lost its luster,the noble metal changed;Jewels lie scatteredat the corner of every street.
2. And Zion’s precious children,worth their weight in gold—How they are treated like clay jugs,the work of any potter!
3. Even jackals offer their breaststo nurse their young;But the daughter of my people is as cruelas the ostrich in the wilderness.
4. The tongue of the infant cleavesto the roof of its mouth in thirst;Children beg for bread,but no one gives them a piece.
5. Those who feasted on delicaciesare abandoned in the streets;Those who reclined on crimsonnow embrace dung heaps.
6. The punishment of the daughter of my peoplesurpassed the penalty of Sodom,Which was overthrown in an instantwith no hand laid on it.
7. Her princes were brighter than snow,whiter than milk,Their bodies more ruddy than coral,their beauty like the sapphire.
8. Now their appearance is blacker than soot,they go unrecognized in the streets;Their skin has shrunk on their bones,and become dry as wood.
9. Better for those pierced by the swordthan for those pierced by hunger,Better for those who bleed from woundsthan for those who lack food.