The gold grown dim
Lamentations 4
22 verses≈ 4 minBSB
Images are artistic interpretations.
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Where we are
- 1The lonely cityZion weeps, and no one comforts her
- 2The Lord’s angerWalls, altar and gates thrown down
- 3New every morningThe afflicted man finds hope in the LORD
- 4The gold grown dimSiege and famine, the king taken, Edom warnedChapter 4
- 5Restore us, O LORDThe people’s prayer from the ruins
The Distress of Zion
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Even jackals offer their breasts
to nurse their young,
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
like an ostrich in the wilderness.
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.
Those who once ate delicacies
are destitute in the streets;
those brought up in crimson
huddle in ash heaps.
The poet
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.
Her dignitaries were brighter than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than rubies,
their appearance like sapphires.
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.
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.
The hands of compassionate women
have cooked their own children,
who became their food
in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
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.
0:09
Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
The poet
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.
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.
They wandered blind in the streets,
defiled by this blood,
so that no one dared
to touch their garments.
“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.”
The presence of the LORD has scattered them;
He regards them no more.
The priests are shown no honor;
the elders find no favor.
Question
Quick question
Look again at verse 12 before you answer.
What did the kings of the earth not believe could happen?
The people of Judah
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.
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!
The people of Judah
Those who chased us were swifter
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,
was captured in their pits.
We had said of him,
“Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”
Stylised map · locations approximate
On the map
The king’s flight
The king fled by night toward the Jordan, was caught on the plains of Jericho, judged at Riblah and taken to Babylon.
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.
O Daughter of Zion, your punishment is complete;
He will not prolong your exile.
Lamentations 4:22
But He will punish your iniquity, O Daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins.
Pray
Pray
Lord, the gold grew dim and the city fell, and at last You said the punishment was complete. Thank You that in Christ the punishment for my sin is finished. Let me never trust walls or kings in place of You.
You’ve experienced
Lamentations 4
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A verse to carry with you
O Daughter of Zion, your punishment is complete; He will not prolong your exile.
Lamentations 4:22
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