The Distress of Zion
How 1the gold has become tarnished, Ezk 7:19-22Lam 2:19Isa 1:212Ki 25:9-10Isa 14:12Jer 52:13Mat 24:2Luk 21:5-6
the pure gold has become dull!
The gems of the temple lie scattered
on every street corner.
How the precious sons of Zion, Isa 30:14Jer 19:11Rom 9:21-232Ti 2:202Co 4:7Isa 51:18Lam 5:12Zec 9:13
once worth their weight in pure gold,
are now esteemed as jars of clay,
the work of a potter’s hands!
Even jackals 2offer their breasts Ezk 5:10Luk 23:28-29Lam 2:20Lam 4:102Ki 6:26-29Deu 28:52-57Jer 19:9Job 39:13-16
to nurse their young,
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
like an ostrich in the wilderness.
The nursing infant’s tongue Psa 22:15Lam 2:11-12Psa 137:6Deu 32:24Lam 1:11Mat 7:9-11
clings in thirst to the roof of his mouth.
Little children beg for bread,
but no one gives them any.
Those who once ate delicacies Luk 16:19Amo 6:3-7Luk 15:16Pro 31:211Ti 5:62Sa 1:24Deu 28:54-56Isa 24:6-12
are destitute in the streets;
those brought up in crimson
huddle in ash heaps.
The punishment 3of the daughter of my people Gen 19:25Isa 1:9-10Luk 10:12Luk 12:47Mat 24:21Dan 9:12Ezk 16:48-50Lam 4:9
is greater than that of Sodom,
which was overthrown in an instant
without a hand turned to help her.
Her dignitaries were brighter than snow, Psa 51:7Psa 144:12Sng 5:101Sa 16:12Amo 2:11-12Dan 1:15Jdg 13:5Jdg 13:7
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than rubies,
their appearance 4like sapphires. 5
But now their appearance is blacker than soot; Lam 5:10Job 30:30Psa 102:3-5Job 19:20Psa 119:83Isa 52:14Job 2:12Job 30:17-19
they are not recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as a stick.
Those slain by the sword are better off Ezk 24:23Jer 16:4Lev 26:39Ezk 33:10
than those who die of hunger,
who waste away, pierced with pain
because the fields lack produce.
The hands of compassionate women 2Ki 6:26-29Isa 49:15Lam 2:20Jer 19:9Ezk 5:10Lam 3:48Lam 4:3Lev 26:29
have cooked their own children,
who became their food
in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The LORD has exhausted His wrath; Jer 7:20Ezk 22:31Jer 17:27Lam 2:17Dan 9:12Deu 32:21-25Ezk 20:47-48Jer 13:14
He has poured out His fierce anger;
He has kindled a fire in Zion,
and it has consumed her foundations.
The kings of the earth did not believe, Deu 29:24-28Psa 48:4-61Ki 9:8-9Jer 21:13
nor any people of the world,
that an enemy or a foe
could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
But this was for the sins of her prophets Jer 5:31Jer 6:13Ezk 22:26-28Jer 26:8-9Lam 2:14Mat 23:311Th 2:15-16Act 7:52
and the guilt of her priests,
who shed the blood of the righteous
in her midst.
They wandered blind in the streets, Isa 1:15Jer 2:34Deu 28:28-29Isa 56:10Num 19:16Eph 4:18Hos 4:2Isa 29:10-12
defiled by this blood,
so that no one dared
to touch their garments.
“Go away! Unclean!” Lev 13:45-46
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.”
The presence of the LORD has scattered them; Isa 9:14-16Lam 5:12Deu 32:26Deu 28:25Deu 28:64-65Heb 8:9Jer 24:92Ch 36:17
He regards them no more.
The priests are shown no honor;
the elders find no favor.
All the while our eyes were failing Ezk 29:162Ki 24:7Isa 20:5Ezk 29:6-7Isa 30:1-7Isa 31:1-3Jer 2:18Jer 2:36
as we looked in vain for help.
We watched from our towers
for a nation that could not save us.
They stalked our every step, Amo 8:2Ezk 7:2-12Psa 140:11Jer 16:16Lam 3:521Sa 24:142Ki 25:4-5Ezk 12:22-23
so that we could not walk in our streets.
Our end drew near, our time ran out,
for our end had come!
Those who chased us were swifter Hab 1:8Jer 4:13Isa 5:26-28Deu 28:49Hos 8:1Isa 30:16-17Amo 2:14Amo 9:1-3
than the eagles in the sky;
they pursued us over the mountains
and ambushed us in the wilderness.
The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, 2Sa 1:142Sa 19:21Ezk 12:13Gen 2:7Jer 39:52Sa 1:21Ezk 17:18Lam 2:9
was captured in their pits.
We had said of him,
“Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”
So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, Amo 1:11Job 1:1Rev 16:15Psa 137:72Ch 28:19Ecc 11:9Ezk 25:12-14Ezk 25:6
you who dwell in the land of Uz.
Yet the cup will pass to you as well;
you will get drunk and expose yourself.
O Daughter of Zion, your punishment is complete; Isa 40:2Jer 50:20Psa 137:7Ezk 37:28Isa 52:1Isa 60:18Jer 32:40Jer 33:8
He will not prolong your exile. 6
But He will punish your iniquity, O Daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins.