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Lamentations 4:9-19
New American Standard Bible

Chapter 4

9Better off are those killed by the sword Than those killed by hunger; For they waste away, stricken By the lack of the produce of the field. 10The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Due to the destruction of the daughter of my people. 11The Lord has expended His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion, And it has consumed its foundations. 12The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Would enter the gates of Jerusalem. 13Because of the sins of her prophets And the wrongdoings of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the righteous, 14They wandered, blind, in the streets; They were defiled with blood, Such that no one could touch their garments. 15'Keep away! Unclean!' they cried out of themselves. 'Keep away, keep away, do not touch!' For they distanced themselves as well as wandered; People among the nations said, 'They shall not continue to reside with us.' 16The presence of the Lord has scattered them, He will not continue to look at them; They did not honor the priests, They did not favor the elders. 17Yet our eyes failed, Looking for help was useless; At our observation point we have watched For a nation that could not save. 18They hunted our steps So that we could not walk in our streets; Our end drew near, Our days were finished For our end had come. 19Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They chased us on the mountains, They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
King James Version

Chapter 4

9They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. 10The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. 11The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. 12The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
13For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, 14They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 15They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there. 16The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders. 17As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us. 18They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come. 19Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
Christian Standard Bible

Chapter 4

9Those slain by the sword are better off than those slain by hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce. 10The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children; they became their food during the destruction of my dear people. 11The Lord has exhausted his wrath, poured out his burning anger; he has ignited a fire in Zion, and it has consumed her foundations. 12The kings of the earth and all the world's inhabitants did not believe that an enemy or adversary could enter Jerusalem's gates. 13Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous within her. 14Blind, they stumbled in the streets, defiled by this blood, so that no one dared to touch their garments. 15"Stay away! Unclean! " people shouted at them. "Away, away! Don't touch us! " So they wandered aimlessly. It was said among the nations, "They can stay here no longer." 16The Lord himself has scattered them; he no longer watches over them. The priests are not respected; the elders find no favor. 17All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help; we watched from our towers for a nation that would not save us. 18Our steps were closely followed so that we could not walk in our streets. Our end approached; our time ran out. Our end had come! 19Those who chased us were swifter than eagles in the sky; they relentlessly pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.
New Living Translation

Chapter 4

9Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger. Starving, they waste away for lack of food from the fields.
10Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege.
11But now the anger of the Lord is satisfied. His fierce anger has been poured out. He started a fire in Jerusalem that burned the city to its foundations.
12Not a king in all the earth — no one in all the world — would have believed that an enemy could march through the gates of Jerusalem.
13Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the sins of her priests, who defiled the city by shedding innocent blood.
14They wandered blindly through the streets, so defiled by blood that no one dared touch them.
15'Get away!' the people shouted at them. 'You’re defiled! Don’t touch us!' So they fled to distant lands and wandered among foreign nations, but none would let them stay.
16The Lord himself has scattered them, and he no longer helps them. People show no respect for the priests and no longer honor the leaders.
17We looked in vain for our allies to come and save us, but we were looking to nations that could not help us.
18We couldn’t go into the streets without danger to our lives. Our end was near; our days were numbered. We were doomed!
19Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight. If we fled to the mountains, they found us. If we hid in the wilderness, they were waiting for us there.
English Standard Version

Chapter 4

9Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field. 10The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people. 11The LORD gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations. 12The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem. 13This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous. 14They wandered, blind, through the streets; they were so defiled with blood that no one was able to touch their garments. 15“Away! Unclean!” people cried at them. “Away! Away! Do not touch!” So they became fugitives and wanderers; people said among the nations, “They shall stay with us no longer.” 16The LORD himself has scattered them; he will regard them no more; no honor was shown to the priests, no favor to the elders. 17Our eyes failed, ever watching vainly for help; in our watching we watched for a nation which could not save. 18They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; our end drew near; our days were numbered, for our end had come. 19Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles in the heavens; they chased us on the mountains; they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
New International Version

Chapter 4

9Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field.
10With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed.
11The LORD has given full vent to his wrath; he has poured out his fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed her foundations.
12The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the peoples of the world, that enemies and foes could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
13But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of the righteous.
14Now they grope through the streets as if they were blind. They are so defiled with blood that no one dares to touch their garments.
15Go away! You are unclean!' people cry to them. 'Away! Away! Don't touch us!' When they flee and wander about, people among the nations say, 'They can stay here no longer.'
16The LORD himself has scattered them; he no longer watches over them. The priests are shown no honor, the elders no favor.
17Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us.
18People stalked us at every step, so we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near, our days were numbered, for our end had come.
19Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert.
New King James Version

Chapter 4

9 Those slain by the sword are better off Than those who die of hunger; For these pine away, Stricken for lack of the fruits of the field. 10The hands of the compassionate women Have cooked their own children; They became food for them In the destruction of the daughter of my people. 11The Lord has fulfilled His fury, He has poured out His fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion, And it has devoured its foundations. 12The kings of the earth, And all inhabitants of the world, Would not have believed That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem— 13 Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who shed in her midst The blood of the just. 14They wandered blind in the streets; They have defiled themselves with blood, So that no one would touch their garments. 15They cried out to them, “Go away, unclean! Go away, go away, Do not touch us!” When they fled and wandered, Those among the nations said, “They shall no longer dwell here.” 16The face of the Lord scattered them; He no longer regards them. The people do not respect the priests Nor show favor to the elders. 17Still our eyes failed us, Watching vainly for our help; In our watching we watched For a nation that could not save us. 18 They tracked our steps So that we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near; Our days were over, For our end had come. 19Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the heavens. They pursued us on the mountains And lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
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