Lamentations 5

¹Remember, O Jehovah, what is come upon us: Behold, and see our reproach.

²Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, Our houses unto aliens.

³We are orphans and fatherless; Our mothers are as widows.

⁴We have drunken our water for money; Our wood is sold unto us.

⁵Our pursuers are upon our necks: We are weary, and have no rest.

⁶We have given the hand to the Egyptians, And to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.

⁷Our fathers sinned, and are not; And we have borne their iniquities.

⁸Servants rule over us: There is none to deliver us out of their hand.

⁹We get our bread at the peril of our lives, Because of the sword of the wilderness.

¹⁰Our skin is black like an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine.

¹¹They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.

¹²Princes were hanged up by their hand: The faces of elders were not honored.

¹³The young men bare the mill; And the children stumbled under the wood.

¹⁴The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music.

¹⁵The joy of our heart is ceased; Our dance is turned into mourning.

¹⁶The crown is fallen from our head: Woe unto us! for we have sinned.

¹⁷For this our heart is faint; For these things our eyes are dim;

¹⁸For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: The foxes walk upon it.

¹⁹Thou, O Jehovah, abidest for ever; Thy throne is from generation to generation.

²⁰Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, Andforsake us so long time?

²¹Turn thou us unto thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned; Renew our days as of old.

²²But thou hast utterly rejected us; Thou art very wroth against us.

¹Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us. Look and see our disgrace!

²Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.

³We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows.

⁴We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price.

⁵We are closely pursued; we are weary and find no rest.

⁶We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.

⁷Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment.

⁸Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hands.

⁹We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.

¹⁰Our skin is as hot as an oven with fever from our hunger.

¹¹Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah.

¹²Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders receive no respect.

¹³Young men toil at millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.

¹⁴The elders have left the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.

¹⁵Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim—

¹⁸because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.

¹⁹You, O LORD, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation.

²⁰Why have You forgotten us forever? Why have You forsaken us for so long?

²¹Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old,

²²unless You have utterly rejected us and remain angry with us beyond measure.