📖 Lamentations — Chapter 4 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Lamentations 4:1 RHow is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
Lamentations 4:2 The precious Rsons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
Lamentations 4:3 Even the Tsea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: Rthe daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
Lamentations 4:4 The Rtongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
Lamentations 4:5 They Rthat did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
Lamentations 4:6 For the RTpunishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.
Lamentations 4:7 Her RNazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:
Lamentations 4:8 Their Rvisage is Tblacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.
Lamentations 4:9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these Tpine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.
Lamentations 4:10 The Rhands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Lamentations 4:11 The RLORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.
Lamentations 4:12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
Lamentations 4:13 For Rthe sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,
Lamentations 4:14 They Rhave wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, Tso that men could not touch their garments.
Lamentations 4:15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; Tit is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.
Lamentations 4:16 The Tanger of the LORD Rhath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.
Lamentations 4:17 As for us, Rour eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.
Lamentations 4:18 They Rhunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
Lamentations 4:19 Our Rpersecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
Lamentations 4:20 The Rbreath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.
Lamentations 4:21 Rejoice and Rbe glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
Lamentations 4:22 RTThe punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will Tdiscover thy sins.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Lamentations 4:1–8 — Precious lives are wasted by hunger
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Dimmed gold and scattered sanctuary stones picture a city’s loss of worth and dignity. Children thirst, former luxury disappears, and once-healthy bodies are withered by deprivation.
Key Truth: See the worth of people beneath their suffering.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine ____ , how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work …” (Lamentations 4:2)
Find it in Lamentations 4:2 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “They that did ____ delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought …” (Lamentations 4:5)
Find it in Lamentations 4:5 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “Their ____ is blacker than a coal; they are not known in …” (Lamentations 4:8)
Find it in Lamentations 4:8 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Lamentations 4:9–15 — Famine and corrupt leadership expose the collapse
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The poem describes siege horrors and a destruction once thought impossible. Prophets and priests who shed righteous blood are exposed, and their former status cannot shelter them from rejection.
Key Truth: Hold leaders accountable for harm to the innocent.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “They that be ____ with the sword are better than they that be slain …” (Lamentations 4:9)
Find it in Lamentations 4:9 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “The ____ of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, …” (Lamentations 4:12)
Find it in Lamentations 4:12 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “They ____ unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch …” (Lamentations 4:15)
Find it in Lamentations 4:15 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Lamentations 4:16–22 — Failed help, pursuit, and a warning to Edom
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Respect for elders collapses, hoped-for national help fails, and persecutors trap the people. The ending contrasts the completion of Zion’s punishment with coming exposure of Edom’s guilt.
Key Truth: Do not rejoice over another community’s downfall.
Check What You Remember
1. Complete the KJV wording: “The ____ of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more …” (Lamentations 4:16)
Find it in Lamentations 4:16 (KJV).
2. Complete the KJV wording: “Our ____ are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued …” (Lamentations 4:19)
Find it in Lamentations 4:19 (KJV).
3. Complete the KJV wording: “Rejoice and be glad, O ____ of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the …” (Lamentations 4:21)
Find it in Lamentations 4:21 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Obadiah 1:12 — Obadiah warns against gloating over Judah’s distress.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
How can you honor the dignity of people whose circumstances have changed drastically?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. Which summary best distinguishes Lamentations 4:1–8 (Precious lives are wasted by hunger) from the chapter’s other sections?
2. Which summary best distinguishes Lamentations 4:9–15 (Famine and corrupt leadership expose the collapse) from the chapter’s other sections?
3. Which summary best distinguishes Lamentations 4:16–22 (Failed help, pursuit, and a warning to Edom) from the chapter’s other sections?
4. What link is made between leadership and the city’s ruin?
5. How do Zion and Edom receive contrasting words?
Notes
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