Immerse: Poets Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 189
3:61–4:6
L amentations
Lord, you have heard the vile names they call me.
You know all about the plans they have made.
My enemies whisper and mutter
as they plot against me all day long.
Look at them! Whether they sit or stand,
I am the object of their mocking songs.
Pay them back, Lord,
for all the evil they have done.
Give them hard and stubborn hearts,
and then let your curse fall on them!
Chase them down in your anger,
destroying them beneath the Lord’s heavens.
How the gold has lost its luster!
Even the finest gold has become dull.
The sacred gemstones
lie scattered in the streets!
See how the precious children of Jerusalem,
worth their weight in fine gold,
are now treated like pots of clay
made by a common potter.
Even the jackals feed their young,
but not my people Israel.
They ignore their children’s cries,
like ostriches in the desert.
The parched tongues of their little ones
stick to the roofs of their mouths in thirst.
The children cry for bread,
but no one has any to give them.
The people who once ate the richest foods
now beg in the streets for anything they can get.
Those who once wore the finest clothes
now search the garbage dumps for food.
The guilt of my people
is greater than that of Sodom,
where utter disaster struck in a moment
and no hand offered help.
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