1How 4:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. the gold has become tarnished,
2How the precious sons of Zion,
3Even jackals 4:3 Or serpents or dragons offer their breasts
4The nursing infant’s tongue
5Those who once ate delicacies
6The punishment 4:6 Or iniquity of the daughter of my people
7Her dignitaries were brighter than snow,
8But now their appearance is blacker than soot;
9Those slain by the sword are better off
10The hands of compassionate women
11The LORD has exhausted His wrath;
12The kings of the earth did not believe,
13But this was for the sins of her prophets
14They wandered blind in the streets,
15“Go away! Unclean!”
16The presence of the LORD has scattered them;
17All the while our eyes were failing
18They stalked our every step,
19Those who chased us were swifter
20The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life,
21So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom,
22O Daughter of Zion, your punishment is complete;