Lamentations, 4
א [Aleph]
1 How the shining gold has grown dim, the fine gold! How the holy stones lie scattered at every street corner!*1
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ב [Beth]
2 As for the precious sons of Zion, who were weighed against*1 refined gold, How they have been regarded as earthenware jars, The work of a potter’s hands!
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ג [Gimel]
3 Even jackals offer the udder to nurse their young, But the daughter of my people has become cruel, like ostriches in the wilderness.
ד [Daleth]
4 The tongue of the nursing infant sticks to its palate because of thirst. Children beg for bread, but no one gives them any.
ה [He]
5 Those who used to eat delicacies lie famished*1 in the streets. Those who were brought up wearing scarlet have embraced ash heaps.
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ו [Waw]
6 The punishment*1 of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment for the sin of Sodʹom, Which was overthrown in a moment, with no hand to help her.
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ז [Zayin]
7 Her Nazʹi·rites were purer than snow, whiter than milk. They were more ruddy than corals; they were like polished sapphires.
ח [Heth]
8 Their appearance has become darker than soot;*1 They are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled over their bones; it has become like dry wood.
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ט [Teth]
9 Those slain with the sword are better off than those slain by famine, Those who waste away, who are pierced through for lack of food from the field.
י [Yod]
10 The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children. They have become their food of mourning during the breakdown of the daughter of my people.
כ [Kaph]
11 Jehovah has expressed his wrath; He has poured out his burning anger. And he starts a fire in Zion that consumes her foundations.
ל [Lamed]
12 The kings of the earth and all the inhabitants of the productive land did not believe That the adversary and the enemy would enter the gates of Jerusalem.
מ [Mem]
13 It was because of the sins of her prophets, the errors of her priests, Who shed the blood of righteous ones in her midst.
נ [Nun]
14 They have wandered blindly in the streets. They are polluted with blood, So that none are able to touch their garments.
ס [Samekh]
15 “Go away! Unclean!” they call out to them. “Go away! Go away! Do not touch us!” For they have gone homeless and wander about. People have said among the nations: “They cannot stay here with us.*1
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פ [Pe]
16 The face of Jehovah has scattered them; He will no longer look favorably on them. Men will show no respect for the priests, no favor to the elders.”
ע [Ayin]
17 Even now our eyes are worn out from looking in vain for help. We looked and looked for help from a nation that could not save us.
צ [Tsade]
18 They have hunted us down at every step so that we could not walk in our public squares. Our end has drawn near; our days have finished, for our end has come.
ק [Qoph]
19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky. They chased us on the mountains; they ambushed us in the wilderness.
ר [Resh]
20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed one of Jehovah, has been captured in their large pit, The one of whom we said: “In his shade we will live among the nations.”
ש [Sin]
21 Exult and rejoice, O daughter of Eʹdom, living as you do in the land of Uz. But to you also the cup will be passed, and you will become drunk and expose your nakedness.
ת [Taw]
22 The punishment for your error, O daughter of Zion, has come to its finish. He will not carry you off into exile again. But he will turn his attention to your error, O daughter of Eʹdom. He will uncover your sins.