| 1 | O Lord, [earnestly] remember what has come upon us! Look down and see our reproach (our national disgrace)! |
| 2 | Our inheritance has fallen over to strangers, our houses to foreigners. |
| 3 | We have become orphans and fatherless; our mothers are like widows. |
| 4 | We have had to pay money to drink the water that belongs to us; our [own] wood is sold to us. |
| 5 | Our pursuers are upon our necks [like a yoke]; we are weary and are allowed no rest. |
| 6 | We have given the hand [as a pledge of fidelity and submission] to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians [merely] to get food to satisfy [our hunger]. |
| 7 | Our fathers sinned and are no more, and
[a]we have borne their iniquities. |
| 8 | Servants
and
slaves rule over us; there is none to deliver us out of their hands. |
| 9 | We get our bread at the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness [the wild Arabs, who may attack if we venture into the fields to reap our harvests]. |
| 10 | Our skin glows
and
is parched as from [the heat of] an oven because of the burning heat of [the fever of] famine. |
| 11 | They ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah. |
| 12 | They hung princes by their hands; the persons of elders were not respected. |
| 13 | Young men carried millstones, and boys fell [staggering] under [burdens of] wood. |
| 14 | The elders have ceased from [congregating at] the city’s gate, the young men from their music. |
| 15 | Ceased is the joy of our hearts; our dancing has turned into mourning. |
| 16 | The crown has fallen from our head [our honor is brought to the dust]! Woe to us, for we have sinned! |
| 17 | Because of this our hearts are faint
and
sick; because of these things our eyes are dim
and
see darkly. |
| 18 | As for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, the jackals prowl over it! |
| 19 | But You, O Lord, remain
and
reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to [all] generations. |
| 20 | Why do You forget us forever? Why do You forsake us so long? |
| 21 | Turn us to Yourself, O Lord, and we shall be turned
and
restored! Renew our days as of old!— |
| 22 | Or have You utterly rejected us?
[b]Or are You exceedingly angry with us [still]? |
Cross references:
-
Lamentations 5:7 : Isa. 65:7; Jer. 16:11-12; 31:29; Ezek. 18:2-4.
-
Lamentations 5:8 : Neh. 5:15.
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