Lamentations 4:2

The precious sons of Zion were worth their weight in pure gold, 1 but now they are worth no more than clay jars, the work of the potter's hands! 1

Unlocked Literal Bible

In The King James Version

The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

In Context

1The gold has become tarnished; how the purest gold has changed! 1 The holy stones are scattered at the corner of every street. 1

3Even the jackals offer the breast to nurse their cubs, but 1 the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the desert. 1

Read all of Lamentations 4

Cross References

Isaiah 30:14He will break it as a potter's vessel is broken; he will not spare it, 1 so that there will not be found among its pieces a shard 1 with which to scrape fire from the hearth, or to scoop up water out of the cistern. 1

Jeremiah 19:11You will say to them, 'Yahweh of hosts says this: I will do this same thing to this people and this city—this is Yahweh's declaration—just as Jeremiah shattered the clay flask so that it could not be repaired again. People will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no place left for any more dead.

Lamentations 2:21Both the young and the old lie on the dust of the streets. 1 My young women and my young men have fallen by the sword; 1 you have slaughtered them without taking pity on them. 1

Hosea 8:8Israel is swallowed up; 1 now they lie among the nations like something useless. 1

Romans 9:21Does the potter not have the right over the clay to make from the same lump a container for special use, and another container for daily use?

2 Timothy 2:20In a wealthy home, there are not only containers of gold and silver. There are also containers of wood and clay. Some of these are for honorable use, and some for dishonorable.

Matthew Henry on Lamentations 4:2-13

Desolate Condition of Jerusalem; Effects of Famine in Jerusalem; Destruction of Jerusalem. ( b. c. 588.) 1 How 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. 2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches… Read the whole commentary →

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Study Lamentations 4:2