Lamentations
Chapter
4
{Jeremiah
on the Children of Jerusalem}
1~~How
the gold have lost their luster!
How
the most fine gold has become dull!
The
sacred gems of the sanctuary
are
scattered at the head of every street.
2~~The
precious sons/children of Zion,
once
worth their weight in gold,
and
now considered as pots of clay -
the
work of a potter's hands!
3~~Even
jackals offered their breasts
to
nurse their young.
But
the daughters of my people
have
become heartless/cruel,
like
ostriches in the desert.
4~~Because
of thirst,
the
infants tongue sticks to the roof of the mouth.
The
children beg for bread,
but
no one gives it to them.
5~~Those
who once ate delicacies
now
are destitute in the streets.
Those
nurtured in purple
{color of the clothes of aristocracy},
now
lie in ash heaps.
6~~The
punishment of the daughter of my people
is
greater than the punishment of Sodom
which
was overthrown in a moment,
without
a hand turned to help.
7``Her
Nazarites/'consecrated ones'
were
purer than snow,
they
were whiter than milk,
they
were more red in body than rubies,
their
polishing was of sapphire.
8``Their
appearance is blacker than a coal.
They
are not known in the streets.
Their
skin sticks to their bones.
It
{their body} is withered,
it
{their individual body} is become like a stick
{the walking dead - only skeletons}.
9~~Those
who are killed by the sword are better off
than
those killed by hunger {starvation}.
For
these waste away
from
lack of food of the field.
10~~With
their own hands
compassionate
women
have
cooked their own children
{cannibalism in the starvation of the siege of Jerusalem}.
who
became their food
when
the daughter of my people were destroyed.
11~~The
Jehovah/God has given full vent to His wrath.
He
has poured out His fierce anger,
and
has kindled a fire in Zion
{hill on which the temple in Jerusalem was located},
and
it has consumed the foundations thereof.
12~~Even
the kings of the earth,
and
all the inhabitants of the world, were shocked
that
the adversary and the enemy
should
have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
13~~It
happened because of the sins of her prophets,
and
the iniquities of her priests,
who
have shed within her {the temple}
the
blood of the righteous
{they attacked believers positive to God and His Word}.
14~~They
{these clergy}
grope
through the streets like men who are blind.
They
are so defiled with blood
that
no one dares to touch their garments.
15``Men
cry to them, "Go away, you are unclean.
Away,
away. Do not touch us!"
When
they fled away and scattered,
and
said among the gentile/heathen,
"They
shall no longer sojourn/'live temporarily' there."
16``The
anger of Jehovah/God has divided them.
He
will no longer listen to them {the priests and prophets}.
They
respected not the persons of the priests.
They
showed no consideration to those in authority/'the elders'.
17``As
for us, our eyes searched unfailingly
for
vaporous help {none was there}.
In
our watching we have watched for a nation . . .
that
could not save us {it was hopeless}.
18~~Men
stalked us at every step
so
that we cannot walk in our streets.
Our
end was near, our days are numbered.
For
our end has come.
19~~Our
pursuers are swifter than the eagles of the heaven
They
pursued us upon the mountains,
they
laid wait for us in the desert.
{Note: During this disaster, King Zedekiah deserted Jerusalem - he took the remaining army and fled. He and his 4 sons were captured and taken to Riblah. There his 4 sons were slaughtered (chopped up) in front of him and then he was blinded.}.
20``The
breath/spirit { ruwach} of our nostrils . . .
the
anointed of the Jehovah/God,
was
taken in their pits,
of
whom we said,
Under
his shadow we shall live among the nations/Gentiles/heathen.
21``Rejoice
and be glad
{while you can is the concept},
O
daughter of Edom,
who
dwell in prosperity in the land of Uz
{the country of Job; probably east and southeast of Palestine
somewhere in the Arabian desert}.
The
cup also shall pass through to you.
You
shall keep on being drunken
{with God's cup of wrath He is giving to the Jews}.
and
shall keep on making yourself naked.
22~~O
daughter of Zion,
Your
punishment will end {516 BC it will}
You
will not prolong your exile.
But
O daughter of Edom
{the Edomites took advantage of the Jews being down and out and
raided the land}
He
will punish your sins and expose your wickedness
{anti-Semitism is always GREATLY PUNISHED -
Jews are God's people and ONLY HE will punish them}.
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