Lamentations 5
1 Remember, LORD, what has happened to us; look and see our disgrace.
2 Our inheritance has passed to strangers, our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, without a father; our mothers are like widows.
4 We pay for the water we drink; our firewood comes only at a price.
5 We are pursued with the yoke on our necks; we are exhausted, and given no rest.
6 We reached out to Egypt, and to Assyria, to get enough bread.
7 Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear the consequences of their guilt.
8 Slaves rule over us, and no one can rescue us from their hands.
9 We risk our lives to bring in our bread, because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our skin burns like an oven because of the fever of hunger.
11 Women were violated in Zion, and young women in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes were hung up by their hands; elders were shown no respect.
13 Young men were made to carry the millstones, and boys stumbled under loads of wood.
14 The elders no longer sit at the gate; the young men no longer play their music.
15 Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our heads. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our hearts are sick; because of these things our eyes have grown dim.
18 Because Mount Zion lies desolate, foxes roam over it.
19 You, LORD, remain forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.
20 Why would you forget us forever and abandon us for so many days?
21 Bring us back to you, LORD, and we will return; renew our days as before.
22 Unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.
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