Lamentations 5

¹Keep in mind, O Lord, what has come to us: take note and see our shame.

²Our heritage is given up to men of strange lands, our houses to those who are not our countrymen.

³We are children without fathers, our mothers are like widows.

⁴We give money for a drink of water, we get our wood for a price.

⁵Our attackers are on our necks: overcome with weariness, we have no rest.

⁶We have given our hands to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians so that we might have enough bread.

⁷Our fathers were sinners and are dead; and the weight of their evil-doing is on us.

⁸Servants are ruling over us, and there is no one to make us free from their hands.

⁹We put our lives in danger to get our bread, because of the sword of the waste land.

¹⁰Our skin is heated like an oven because of our burning heat from need of food.

¹¹They took by force the women in Zion, the virgins in the towns of Judah.

¹²Their hands put princes to death by hanging: the faces of old men were not honoured.

¹³The young men were crushing the grain, and the boys were falling under the wood.

¹⁴The old men are no longer seated in the doorway, and the music of the young men has come to an end.

¹⁵The joy of our hearts is ended; our dancing is changed into sorrow.

¹⁶The crown has been taken from our head: sorrow is ours, for we are sinners.

¹⁷Because of this our hearts are feeble; for these things our eyes are dark;

¹⁸Because of the mountain of Zion which is a waste; jackals go over it.

¹⁹You, O Lord, are seated as King for ever; the seat of your power is eternal.

²⁰Why have we gone from your memory for ever? why have you been turned away from us for so long?

²¹Make us come back to you, O Lord, and let us be turned; make our days new again as in the past.

²²But you have quite given us up; you are full of wrath against us.

¹Remember, Lord, what has come on us. Look, and see our disgrace.

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

³We are orphans and fatherless. Our mothers are like widows.

⁴We have to pay for a drink of water; our wood is sold to us.

⁵Our pursuers are on our necks; we are weary, and have no rest.

⁶We have submitted to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians, to get enough bread.

⁷Our fathers sinned, and are no more; 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 in the wilderness.

¹⁰Our skin is hot like an oven, because of the burning heat of famine.

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

¹²Princes were hanged by their hands; elders were shown no respect.

¹³The young men grind at the mill; the boys stagger under loads of wood.

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

¹⁵The joy of our heart has ceased; our dancing is turned into mourning.

¹⁶The crown is fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes grow dim.

¹⁸For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate; the foxes walk on it.

¹⁹You, Lord, abide forever; your throne is from generation to generation.

²⁰Why do you keep on forgetting us? Why do you forsake us so long?

²¹Restore us to you, Lord, and we shall be restored; renew our days as in former times,

²²unless you have completely rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.