Study Desk

How ^(C1)dark the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are spilled out At the ^(F1)corner of every street.

The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against pure gold, How they are regarded as ^(C1)earthenware jars, The work of a potter's hands!

Even ^(C1)jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has proved herself ^(C2)cruel, Like ^(C3)ostriches in the wilderness.

The ^(C1)tongue of the infant clings To the roof of its mouth because of ^(C2)thirst; The children ^(C3)ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.

Those who used to eat ^(C1)delicacies Are made to tremble in the streets; Those who were raised in crimson clothing Embrace garbage heaps.

For the ^(F1)wrongdoing of the daughter of my people Is greater than the ^(F2)(C1)sin of Sodom, Which was ^(C2)overthrown as in a moment, ^(F3)And no hands were turned toward her.

Her ^(F1)consecrated ones were ^(C1)purer than snow, They shined more than milk; They were more ruddy in ^(F2)body than pearls of coral, Their form was like ^(F3)(C2)lapis lazuli.

Their appearance is ^(C1)darker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their ^(C2)skin is shriveled on their bones, It is dry, it has become like wood.

Better off are those ^(C1)killed by the sword Than those killed by hunger; For they ^(F1)(C2)waste away, ^(F2)stricken By the lack of the produce of the field.

The hands of compassionate women ^(C1)Boiled their own children; They became ^(C2)food for them Due to the destruction of the daughter of my people.

The LORD has ^(C1)expended His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has ^(C2)kindled a fire in Zion, And it has consumed its foundations.

The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of ^(C1)the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Would ^(C2)enter the gates of Jerusalem.

Because of the sins of her ^(C1)prophets And the wrongdoings of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The ^(C2)blood of the righteous,

They wandered, ^(C1)blind, in the streets; They were defiled with ^(C2)blood, Such that no one could touch their ^(C3)garments.

"Keep away! ^(C1)Unclean!" ^(F1)they cried out of themselves. "Keep away, keep away, do not touch!" For they ^(C2)distanced themselves as well as wandered; People among the nations said, "They shall not continue to reside with us."

The presence of the LORD has scattered them, He will not continue to look at them; They did not ^(F1)(C1)honor the priests, They did not favor the elders.