Lamentations 5

¹Lord, haue thou mynde what bifelle to vs; se thou, and biholde oure schenschipe.

²Oure eritage is turned to aliens, oure housis ben turned to straungers.

³We ben maad fadirles children with out fadir; oure modris ben as widewis.

⁴We drunken oure watir for monei, we bouyten oure trees for siluer.

⁵We weren dryuun bi oure heedis, and reste was not youun to feynt men.

⁶We yauen hond to Egipt, and to Assiriens, that we schulden be fillid with breed.

⁷Oure fadris synneden, and ben not, and we baren the wickidnessis of hem.

⁸Seruauntis weren lordis of vs, and noon was, that ayenbouyte fro the hond of hem.

⁹In oure lyues we brouyten breed to vs, fro the face of swerd in desert.

¹⁰Oure skynne is brent as a furneis, of the face of tempestis of hungur.

¹¹Thei maden low wymmen in Sion, and virgyns in the citees of Juda.

¹²Princes weren hangid bi the hond; thei weren not aschamed of the faces of elde men.

¹³Thei mysusiden yonge wexynge men vnchastli, and children fellen doun in tree.

¹⁴Elde men failiden fro yatis; yonge men failiden of the queer of singeris.

¹⁵The ioie of oure herte failide; oure song is turned in to mourenyng.

¹⁶The coroun of oure heed fellen doun; wo to vs! for we synneden.

¹⁷Therfor oure herte is maad soreuful, therfor oure iyen ben maad derk.

¹⁸For the hil of Sion, for it perischide; foxis yeden in it.

¹⁹But thou, Lord, schal dwelle with outen ende; thi seete schal dwelle in generacioun and in to generacioun.

²⁰Whi schalt thou foryete vs with outen ende, schalt thou forsake vs in to lengthe of daies?

²¹Lord, conuerte thou vs to thee, and we schal be conuertid; make thou newe oure daies, as at the bigynnyng.

²²But thou castynge awei hast cast awei vs; thou art wrooth ayens vs greetli.

¹Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.

²Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to 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 necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.

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

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

⁸Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.

⁹We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.

¹⁰Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.

¹¹They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.

¹²Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.

¹³They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.

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

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

¹⁶The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!

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

¹⁸Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.

¹⁹Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.

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

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

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