א (Alef)
4:1 Alas! Gold has lost its luster;
pure gold loses value.
Jewels are scattered
on every street corner.
ב (Bet)
4:2 The 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)
4:3 Even the jackals nurse their young
at their breast,
but my people are cruel,
like ostriches in the desert.
ד (Dalet)
4:4 The 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)
4:5 Those 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)
4:6 The punishment of my people
exceeded that of of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment
with no one to help her.
ז (Zayin)
4:7 Her consecrated ones were brighter than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies more ruddy than corals,
their hair like lapis lazuli.
ח (Khet)
4:8 Now 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)
4:9 Those who died by the sword are better off
than those who die of hunger,
those who waste away,
struck down from lack of food.