9. Better are those slain by the sword than those struck down by famine— they waste away, racked with pain, for lack of fruits of the field.
10. The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children. They became their food when the daughter of my people were destroyed.
11. Adonai has vented His fury. He has poured out His burning anger. Yes, He kindled a fire in Zion that devoured her foundations.
12. The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did the inhabitations of the world, that enemy and foe would enter the gates of Jerusalem.
13. Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her kohanim, who shed in her midst the blood of the tzadikim .
14. They wander in the streets, like blind men. They are so defiled with blood, no one can touch their garments.
15. “Turn away! Unclean!” They cry to them. “Turn away, turn away! Don’t touch!” So they fled and wandered about. People among the nations say, “They can stay here no longer.”
16. Adonai Himself has scattered them. He will look on them no more. They did not respect the kohanim. They did not favor the elders.
17. Even now our eyes waste away looking in vain for our help. From our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us.
18. They hunted our steps, so we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near. Our days were numbered, for our end had come.
19. Our pursuers were swifter than eagles of the sky; they pursued us over the mountains; they ambushed us in the wilderness.