耶利米哀歌4:7-10

4:7 錫安的貴冑素來比雪純淨，比奶更白；他們的身體比紅寶玉（或譯：珊瑚）更紅，像光潤的藍寶石一樣。

4:8 現在他們的面貌比煤炭更黑，以致在街上無人認識；他們的皮膚緊貼骨頭，枯乾如同槁木。

4:9 餓死的不如被刀殺的，因為這是缺了田間的土產，就身體衰弱，漸漸消滅。

4:10 慈悲的婦人，當我眾民被毀滅的時候，親手煮自己的兒女作為食物。

7 Her princes were purer than snow,

whiter than milk;

their bodies were more ruddy than coral,

the beauty of their form was like sapphire.

8 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.

9 Happier were the victims of the sword

than the victims of hunger,

who wasted away, pierced

by lack of the fruits of the field.

10 The hands of compassionate women

 have boiled their own children;

 they became their food

during the destruction of the daughter of my people.

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    先知在這裡說到上帝用飢荒來懲罰祂的子民，讓人感受到人禍算什麼！上帝使用天災的懲罰更可怕！這也提醒我們，得罪上帝事件多麼可怕的事情啊！人豈可輕忽自己的罪呢！怎可不討上帝的喜悅呢！

    也求上帝讓人們知道，唯有靠耶穌基督，人才可以真正脫離罪惡！才可以享受真正的平安，因為上帝追究起人的罪時，人是逃不掉的，必定要承受罪惡的懲罰，這也是先知寫哀歌來喚醒人悔改的目的！

    因此，人要常常在基督面前對付自己的罪，使自己靠基督的恩典成為清潔的人，好使自己能行在上帝的光明中！