Lamentations 5
1 Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us. Look and see our disgrace!
Remember, O YHWH, what has befallen us, Look attentively, and see our reproach.
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
Our inheritance has been turned to strangers, Our houses to foreigners.
3 We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows.
Orphans we have been—without a father, our mothers [are] as widows.
4 We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price.
We have drunk our water for money, Our wood comes for a price.
5 We are closely pursued; we are weary and find no rest.
For our neck we have been pursued, We have labored—there has been no rest for us.
6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
[To] Egypt we have given a hand, [To] Asshur, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment.
Our fathers have sinned—they are not, We have borne their iniquities.
8 Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hands.
Servants have ruled over us, There is no deliverer from their hand.
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.
With our lives we bring in our bread, Because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin is as hot as an oven with fever from our hunger.
Our skin as an oven has been burning, Because of the raging of the famine.
11 Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah.
Wives in Zion they have humbled, Virgins—in cities of Judah.
12 Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders receive no respect.
Princes have been hanged by their hand, Elderly faces have not been honored.
13 Young men toil at millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.
They have taken young men to grind, And youths have stumbled with wood.
14 The elders have left the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
Elderly have ceased from the gate, Young men from their song.
15 Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
The joy of our heart has ceased, Our dancing has been turned to mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
The crown has fallen [from] our head, Woe [is] now to us, for we have sinned.
17 Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim—
Our heart has been sick for this, Our eyes have been dim for these.
18 because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
For the Mount of Zion—that is desolate, Foxes have gone up on it.
19 You, O LORD, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation.
You, O YHWH, remain for all time, Your throne to generation and generation.
20 Why have You forgotten us forever? Why have You forsaken us for so long?
Why do You forget us forever? You forsake us for [the] length of [our] days!
21 Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old,
Turn us back, O YHWH, to You, And we turn back, renew our days as of old.
22 unless You have utterly rejected us and remain angry with us beyond measure.
For have You utterly rejected us? You have been angry against us—exceedingly?
