The people of Jerusalem mourn
1Why did this happen?
Our gold does not shine anymore,
and it has become dark.
The fine gold has become bad.
The holy stones of the temple
lie all over the streets.
People have thrown them away.
2The good people of Jerusalem
were like gold, very special,
but now they are worthless
like clay pots that the potter
has made with his hands.
3Foxes let their babies drink milk,
but my people are as cruel
as ostriches in the desert.
4Babies are very thirsty,
and their tongues are dry in their mouths.
They ask for food
but no one gives them
anything to eat.
5People who always had good food to eat
are hungry, and they are dying in the streets.
People who were wearing the clothes of a king
are sitting on the ash-heaps.
6My people have sinned more
than the people of the city of Sodom.
The Lord destroyed Sodom suddenly,
and there was no one who
put out his hand to help them.
7The leaders in Jerusalem were
as pure as snow and as white as milk.
Their bodies were as red as coral,
and they were as beautiful as sapphire.
8But now they are as black as coal,
and no one knows who they are
when they walk in the streets.
They have become very thin,
and they are as dry as wood.
9I wish that I had been one of the people
who died in the war.
That would have been better for me
than to die from hunger.
The people have become hungry
and have died because they could
not harvest any wheat,
and they had nothing to eat.
10Women who loved their children
before, and cared for them,
have now cooked their children and eaten them.
Children have become food
since the enemies defeated my people.
11The Lord became very angry,
and He did not stop punishing them.
He started a fire in Jerusalem
and the whole city burnt down.
12The kings of the earth,
and all the people in the world,
thought that enemies would never
come through the gates of Jerusalem.
13But it happened.
It happened because of the sin of the prophets,
and because of the wrong things
that the priests did.
They caused innocent people to die in the city.
14People walked all over the streets
like blind people.
They were full of blood,
and no one wanted to touch their clothes.
15Other people shouted to them:
‘Go away. You are impure.
Go away, go away. Don't touch us.’
They went away and they wanted to go
and live among other nations,
but those people said:
‘You may not come here and live
as strangers among us.’
16It was the Lord Himself who
chased them away and made them flee.
He didn't want to see them anymore.
He didn't want to talk to the priests.
He didn't want to feel sorry for the leaders.
17We kept on looking to see if there was
anyone that could come and help us,
but no one came.
We waited and waited,
but not one nation came to help us.
18The enemies followed us like hunters,
and we could not walk in the streets of our city.
We were almost dead.
Our days were over. Our end had come.
19Our enemies were faster
than eagles in the sky.
They chased us on the mountains,
and they waited for us in the desert.
20The anointed of the Lord,
the man who was as important to us
as the breath in our noses,
became a prisoner in the jail of the enemies.
We had said about that man:
‘He will protect us when we
have to live among the Gentiles.’
21People of Edom,
you must be happy and rejoice.
You who live in the land of Uz,
you must show that you are happy,
but the cup_of_suffering
will also come to you.
You will become drunk and
take off your clothes and you will be naked.
22People of Zion, the Lord
has punished you.
You have paid for your sins and now it is over.
You will not be prisoners anymore.
You will go back home.
But people of Edom,
the Lord will punish you now.
He will show your sins to everyone.
