Lamentations 4:9

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

Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field.

They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger : for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.