Lamentations 4 is the fourth chapter of the Book of Lamentations in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, part of the Ketuvim ("Writings"). This book contains the elegies of the prophet Jeremiah. In this chapter, Zion mourns her misery and confesses her sins (); great miseries are recorded: women killed their own children (), the sins of the false prophets and priests (); the king was taken prisoner (). In the final verses, Edom is threatened, but is Zion comforted (). Text The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 22 verses. The chapter is acrostic, divided into 22 stanzas or verses. The stanzas consist of triplets of lines, each beginning with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in regular order (twenty-two in number). Textual versions Some early witnesses for the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 5Q6 (5QLama; 50 CE) with extant verses 5‑8, 11‑16, 19‑22; and 5Q7 (5QLamb; 30 BCE‑50 CE) with extant verses 17‑20. There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century). Verse 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. "How" (Hebrew, Eichah): the title of the collection repeated here, and in Lamentations 2:1. "Gold": the "splendid adornment of the temple" [Calvin] (; ; ); or, the "principal men of Judea" [Grotius] (Lamentations 4:2). "The stones of the sanctuary": These precious stones are the "sons of Zion", who are compared to "fine gold" in verse 2 and in (cf. , "your sons, O Zion") to "the stones of a crown." They are called "stones of the sanctuary" in allusion, perhaps, to the precious stones used in the decoration of the temple as noted in and , which are described as "costly" in . However, it was expressed in an earlier lamentation that the young children "fainted for hunger in the top of every street" (Lamentations 2:19). The stones can also refer to the gems