1How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The holy stones lie scattered at the head of every street.

2The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen pots, the work of a potter's hands!

3Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.

4The tongue of the nursing infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives to them.

5Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple embrace ash heaps.

6For the chastisement of the daughter of my people has been greater than the punishment of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and no hands were wrung for her.

7Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, the beauty of their form was like sapphire.

8Now their face is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood.

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.