Lamentations 4:1-11

1Alas! Gold has lost its luster; pure gold loses value. Jewels are scattered on every street corner. ב (Bet)

2The precious sons of Zion were worth their weight in gold – Alas! – but now they are treated like broken clay pots, made by a potter. ג (Gimel)

3Even the jackals nurse their young at their breast, but my people are cruel, like ostriches in the desert. ד (Dalet)

4The infant’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth due to thirst; little children beg for bread, but no one gives them even a morsel. ה (He)

5Those who once feasted on delicacies are now starving to death in the streets. Those who grew up wearing expensive clothes are now dying amid garbage. ו (Vav)

6The punishment of my people exceeded that of of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment with no one to help her. ז (Zayin)

7Her consecrated ones were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies more ruddy than corals, their hair like lapis lazuli. ח (Khet)

8Now their appearance is darker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it is dried up, like tree bark. ט (Tet)

9Those who died by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, those who waste away, struck down from lack of food. י (Yod)

10The hands of tenderhearted women cooked their own children, who became their food, when my people were destroyed. כ (Kaf)

11The Lord fully vented his wrath; he poured out his fierce anger. He started a fire in Zion; it consumed her foundations. ל (Lamed)