Read the Bible

¹ See how the gold has lost its shine,
    how the pure gold has dulled!
The stones of the Temple are scattered
    at every street corner.

² The precious people of Jerusalem
    were more valuable than gold,
but now they are thought of as clay jars
    made by the hands of a potter.

³ Even wild dogs give their milk
    to feed their young,
but my people are cruel
    like ostriches in the desert.

⁴ The babies are so thirsty
    their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths.
Children beg for bread,
    but no one gives them any.

⁵ Those who once ate fine foods
    are now starving in the streets.
People who grew up wearing nice clothes
    now pick through trash piles.

⁶ My people have been punished
    more than Sodom was.
Sodom was destroyed suddenly,
    and no hands reached out to help her.

⁷ Our princes were purer than snow,
    and whiter than milk.
Their bodies were redder than rubies;
    they looked like sapphires.

⁸ But now they are blacker than coal,
    and no one recognizes them in the streets.
Their skin hangs on their bones;
    it is as dry as wood.

⁹ Those who were killed in the war were better off
    than those killed by hunger.
They starve in pain and die,
    because there is no food from the field.

¹⁰ With their own hands kind women
    cook their own children.
They became food
    when my people were destroyed.

¹¹ The Lord turned loose all of his anger;
    he poured out his strong anger.
He set fire to Jerusalem,
    burning it down to the foundations.

¹² Kings of the earth and people of the world
    could not believe
that enemies and foes
    could enter the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³ It happened because her prophets sinned
    and her priests did evil.
They killed in the city
    those who did what was right.

¹⁴ They wandered in the streets
    as if they were blind.
They were dirty with blood,
    so no one would touch their clothes.

¹⁵ "Go away! You are unclean," people shouted at them.
    "Get away! Get away! Don't touch us!"
So they ran away and wandered.
    Even the other nations said, "Don't stay here."

¹⁶ The Lord himself scattered them
    and did not look after them anymore.
No one respects the priests
    or honors the elders.

¹⁷ Also, our eyes grew tired,
    looking for help that never came.
We kept watch from our towers
    for a nation to save us.

¹⁸ Our enemies hunted us,
    so we could not even walk in the streets.
Our end is near. Our time is up.
    Our end has come.

¹⁹ Those who chased us
    were faster than eagles in the sky.
They ran us into the mountains
    and ambushed us in the desert.

²⁰ The Lord's appointed king, who was our very breath,
    was caught in their traps.
We had said about him, "We will be protected by him
    among the nations."

²¹ Be happy and glad, people of Edom,
    you who live in the land of Uz.
The cup of God's anger will come to you;
    then you will get drunk and go naked.

²² Your punishment is complete, Jerusalem.
    He will not send you into captivity again.
But the Lord will punish the sins of Edom;
    he will uncover your evil.