Lamentations · Majority Standard Bible
Lamentations 4 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 How the gold has become tarnished, the pure gold has become dull! The gems of the temple lie scattered on every street corner.
1 ¡CÓMO se ha oscurecido el oro! ¡[Cómo] el buen oro se ha demudado! Las piedras del santuario están esparcidas por las encrucijadas de todas las calles.
2 How the precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in pure gold, are now esteemed as jars of clay, the work of a potter’s hands!
2 Los hijos de Sión, preciados y estimados más que el oro puro, ¡cómo son tenidos por vasos de barro, obra de manos de alfarero!
3 Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like an ostrich in the wilderness.
3 Aun los monstruos marinos sacan la teta, dan de mamar á sus chiquitos: la hija de mi pueblo es cruel, como los avestruces en el desierto.
4 The nursing infant’s tongue clings in thirst to the roof of his mouth. Little children beg for bread, but no one gives them any.
4 La lengua del niño de teta, de sed se pegó á su paladar: los chiquitos pidieron pan, y no hubo quien se lo partiese.
5 Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets; those brought up in crimson huddle in ash heaps.
5 Los que comían delicadamente, asolados fueron en las calles; los que se criaron en carmesí, abrazaron los estercoleros.
6 The punishment of the daughter of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in an instant without a hand turned to help her.
6 Y aumentóse la iniquidad de la hija de mi pueblo más que el pecado de Sodoma, que fué trastornada en un momento, y no asentaron sobre ella compañías.
7 Her dignitaries were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like sapphires.
7 Sus Nazareos fueron blancos más que la nieve, más lustrosos que la leche, su compostura más rubicunda que los rubíes, más bellos que el zafiro:
8 But now their appearance is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick.
8 Oscura más que la negrura es la forma de ellos; no los conocen por las calles: su piel está pegada á sus huesos, seca como un palo.
9 Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.
9 Más dichosos fueron los muertos á cuchillo que los muertos del hambre; porque éstos murieron poco á poco por falta de los frutos de la tierra.
10 The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
10 Las manos de las mujeres piadosas cocieron á sus hijos; fuéronles comida en el quebrantamiento de la hija de mi pueblo.
11 The LORD has exhausted His wrath; He has poured out His fierce anger; He has kindled a fire in Zion, and it has consumed her foundations.
11 Cumplió Jehová su enojo, derramó el ardor de su ira; y encendió fuego en Sión, que consumió sus fundamentos.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any people of the world, that an enemy or a foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
12 Nunca los reyes de la tierra, ni todos los que habitan en el mundo, creyeron que el enemigo y el adversario entrara por las puertas de Jerusalem.
13 But this was for the sins of her prophets and the guilt of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous in her midst.
13 [Es] por los pecados de sus profetas, por las maldades de sus sacerdotes, que derramaron en medio de ella la sangre de los justos.
14 They wandered blind in the streets, defiled by this blood, so that no one dared to touch their garments.
14 Titubearon como ciegos en las calles, fueron contaminados en sangre, de modo que no pudiesen tocar á sus vestiduras.
15 “Go away! Unclean!” men shouted at them. “Away, away! Do not touch us!” So they fled and wandered. Among the nations it was said, “They can stay here no longer.”
15 Apartaos ¡inmundos!, les gritaban, Apartaos, apartaos, no toquéis. Cuando huyeron y fueron dispersos, dijeron entre las gentes: Nunca más morarán [aquí].
16 The presence of the LORD has scattered them; He regards them no more. The priests are shown no honor; the elders find no favor.
16 La ira de Jehová los apartó, no los mirará más: no respetaron la faz de los sacerdotes, ni tuvieron compasión de los viejos.
17 All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us.
17 Aun nos han desfallecido nuestros ojos tras nuestro vano socorro: en nuestra esperanza aguardamos gente que no puede salvar.
18 They stalked our every step, so that we could not walk in our streets. Our end drew near, our time ran out, for our end had come!
18 Cazaron nuestros pasos, que no anduviésemos por nuestras calles: acercóse nuestro fin, cumpliéronse nuestros días; porque nuestro fin vino.
19 Those who chased us were swifter than the eagles in the sky; they pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.
19 Ligeros fueron nuestros perseguidores más que las águilas del cielo: sobre los montes nos persiguieron, en el desierto nos pusieron emboscadas.
20 The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”
20 El resuello de nuestras narices, el ungido de Jehová, de quien habíamos dicho: A su sombra tendremos vida entre las gentes: fué preso en sus hoyos.
21 So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.
21 Gózate y alégrate, hija de Edom, la que habitas en tierra de Hus: aun hasta ti pasará el cáliz; embriagarte has, y vomitarás.
22 O Daughter of Zion, your punishment is complete; He will not prolong your exile. But He will punish your iniquity, O Daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins.
22 Cumplido es tu castigo, oh hija de Sión: nunca más te hará trasportar. Visitará tu iniquidad, oh hija de Edom; descubrirá tus pecados.
Cross references (22)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Ezekiel 7:19–22; Lamentations 2:19; Isaiah 1:21; 2 Kings 25:9–10; Jeremiah 52:13
- 2 Isaiah 30:14; Romans 9:21–23; Jeremiah 19:11; 2 Timothy 2:20; 2 Corinthians 4:7
- 3 Luke 23:28–29; Ezekiel 5:10; Lamentations 4:10; Lamentations 2:20; Job 39:13–16
- 4 Psalm 22:15; Lamentations 2:11–12; Psalm 137:6; Deuteronomy 32:24; Matthew 7:9–11
- 5 Luke 16:19; Proverbs 31:21; Amos 6:3–7; Luke 15:16; 1 Timothy 5:6
- 6 Genesis 19:25; Isaiah 1:9–10; Luke 12:47; Luke 10:12; Matthew 24:21
- 7 Psalm 51:7; Song of Songs 5:10; Psalm 144:12; 1 Samuel 16:12; Numbers 6:2–21
- 8 Lamentations 5:10; Job 30:30; Psalm 102:3–5; Job 19:20; Psalm 119:83
- 9 Jeremiah 16:4; Ezekiel 24:23; Leviticus 26:39; Ezekiel 33:10
- 10 Isaiah 49:15; Lamentations 2:20; 2 Kings 6:26–29; Jeremiah 19:9; Lamentations 4:3
- 11 Jeremiah 7:20; Ezekiel 22:31; Lamentations 2:17; Jeremiah 17:27; Ezekiel 20:47–48
- 12 Psalm 48:4–6; Deuteronomy 29:24–28; 1 Kings 9:8–9; Jeremiah 21:13
- 13 Jeremiah 5:31; Jeremiah 6:13; Matthew 23:31; Jeremiah 26:8–9; Ezekiel 22:26–28
- 14 Isaiah 1:15; Jeremiah 2:34; Numbers 19:16; Deuteronomy 28:28–29; Isaiah 56:10
- 15 Leviticus 13:45–46
- 16 Isaiah 9:14–16; Lamentations 5:12; Deuteronomy 32:26; Jeremiah 24:9; Deuteronomy 28:64–65
- 17 Ezekiel 29:16; Isaiah 20:5; 2 Kings 24:7; Jeremiah 2:36; Lamentations 1:7
- 18 Amos 8:2; Psalm 140:11; Ezekiel 7:2–12; Lamentations 3:52; Jeremiah 16:16
- 19 Habakkuk 1:8; Jeremiah 4:13; Isaiah 5:26–28; Deuteronomy 28:49; Isaiah 30:16–17
- 20 2 Samuel 1:14; Genesis 2:7; Ezekiel 12:13; Jeremiah 39:5; 2 Samuel 19:21
- 21 Revelation 16:15; Amos 1:11; Job 1:1; Psalm 137:7; Ezekiel 25:12–14
- 22 Isaiah 40:2; Jeremiah 50:20; Psalm 137:7; Lamentations 4:6; Malachi 1:4
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… salvation, thus: "God hath made known His salvation (salutare) in the sight of the heathen." For He is indeed Saviour, as being the Son and Word of God; but salutary, since [He is] Spirit; for he says: "The Spirit of our countenance, Christ the Lord." But salvation, as being flesh: for "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." …
Jeremiah, in prophesying of Christ, says, "The breath of our mouth, the Lord Christ, was taken in our sins," thus briefly showing both that Christ is our Lord and that He suffered for us.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
Lamenting then he says, The breath of our countenance, Christ the Lord was taken in our corruptions.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
He is called Spirit, as "God is a Spirit," and "the breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord." He is called holy, as the Father is holy, and the Son is holy, for to the creature holiness was brought in from without, but to the Spirit holiness is the fulfilment of nature, and it is for this reason …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)