The Punishment of Jerusalem
The Prophet Speaks:
1 The purest gold is ruined
and has lost its shine;
jewels from the temple
lie scattered in the streets.
2 These are Zion's people,
worth more than purest gold;
yet they are counted worthless
like dishes of clay.
3 Even jackals nurse their young,
but my people are like ostriches
that abandon their own.
4 Babies are so thirsty
that their tongues are stuck
to the roof of the mouth.
Children go begging for food,
but no one gives them any.
5 All who ate expensive foods
lie starving in the streets;
those who grew up in luxury
now sit on trash heaps.
6 My nation was punished worse
than the people of Sodom,
whose city was destroyed
in a flash without the help
of human hands.
7 The leaders of Jerusalem
were purer than snow
and whiter than milk;
their bodies were healthy
and glowed like jewels.
8 Now they are blacker than tar,
and no one recognizes them;
their skin clings to their bones
and is drier than firewood.
9 Being killed with a sword
is better than slowly
starving to death.
10 Life in the city is so bad
that loving mothers have boiled
and eaten their own children.
11 The Lord was so fiercely angry
that he burned the city of Zion
to the ground.
12 Not a king on this earth
or the people of any nation
believed enemies could break
through her gates.
13 Jerusalem was punished because
her prophets and her priests
had sinned and caused the death
of innocent victims.
14 Yes, her prophets and priests
were covered with blood;
no one would come near them,
as they wandered
from street to street.
15 Instead, everyone shouted,
“Go away! Don't touch us!
You're filthy and unfit
to belong to God's people!”
So they had to leave
and become refugees.
But foreign nations told them,
“You can't stay here!”
16 The Lord is the one
who sent them scattering,
and he has forgotten them.
No respect or kindness
will be shown
to the priests or leaders.
17 Our eyes became weary,
hopelessly looking
for help from a nation
that could not save us.
18 Enemies hunted us down
on every public street.
Our time was up;
our doom was near.
19 They swooped down faster
than eagles from the sky.
They hunted for us in the hills
and set traps to catch us
out in the desert.
20 The Lord's chosen leader
was our hope for survival!
We thought he would keep us safe
somewhere among the nations,
but even he was caught
in one of their traps.
21 You people of Edom
can celebrate now!
But your time will come
to suffer and stagger
around naked.
22 The people of Zion
have paid for their sins,
and the Lord will soon
let them return home.
But, people of Edom,
you will be punished,
and your sins exposed.
Jerusalem after Its Fall
1 Our glittering gold has grown dull;
the stones of the Temple lie scattered in the streets.
2 Zion's young people were as precious to us as gold,
but now they are treated like common clay pots.
3 Even a mother wolf will nurse her cubs,
but my people are like ostriches, cruel to their young.
4 They let their babies die of hunger and thirst;
children are begging for food that no one will give them.
5 People who once ate the finest foods die starving in the streets;
those raised in luxury are pawing through garbage for food.
6 My people have been punished even more than the inhabitants of Sodom,
which met a sudden downfall at the hands of God.
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 shriveled 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 burned 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 guilty
of causing the death of innocent people.
14 Her leaders wandered through the streets as though blind,
so stained with blood that no one would touch them.
15 “Get 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.
20 They captured the source of our life, the king the Lord had chosen,
the one we had trusted to protect us from every invader.
21 Laugh on, people of Edom and Uz; be glad while you can.
Your disaster is coming too; you too will stagger naked in shame.
22 Zion has paid for her sin; the Lord will not keep us in exile any longer.
But Edom, the Lord will punish you; he will expose your guilty acts.