Her princes were purer than snow,
    whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
    the beauty of their form[a] was like sapphire.[b]

(A)Now their face is blacker than soot;
    they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled on their bones;
    it has become as dry as wood.

Happier were the victims of the sword
    than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away, pierced
    by lack of the fruits of the field.

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Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 4:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  2. Lamentations 4:7 Hebrew lapis lazuli

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