Lamentations 4:9 in the King James Version
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.
Context
8 Their appearance is blacker than a coal. They are not known in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones. It is withered. It has become like wood.
9 Those who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through, for lack of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children. They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.