Lamentations 4:4-10

4Because of thirst the infant’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth; the children beg for bread, but no one gives it to them.

5Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets. Those brought up in royal purple now lie on ash heaps.

6The punishment of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment without a hand turned to help her.

7Their princes were brighter than snow and whiter than milk, their bodies more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like lapis lazuli.

8But now they are 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.

9Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field.

10With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed.