Lamentations 5
1 Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us. Look and see our disgrace!
Yahweh, think about what has happened to us. See that we have been disgraced.
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
Foreigners have seized our property, [and now] they live in our homes.
3 We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows.
[Our enemies] have killed our fathers; they caused our mothers to become widows.
4 We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price.
[Now] we are required to pay for water to drink, and we must pay [a lot of money] for firewood.
5 We are closely pursued; we are weary and find no rest.
[It is as though] those who pursue us are at our heels; we are exhausted, but they do not allow us to rest.
6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
In order to get enough food [to remain alive], we went to Egypt and Assyria and offered to work [for the people there].
7 Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment.
Our ancestors sinned, and now they are dead, but we are being punished for the sins that they committed.
8 Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hands.
[Officials from Babylon] who were [previously] slaves [now] rule over us, and there is no one who can rescue us from their power.
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.
When we roam around in the desert searching for food, we are in danger of being killed, because people there kill strangers with their swords.
10 Our skin is as hot as an oven with fever from our hunger.
Our skin has become hot like [SIM] an oven, and we have a very high fever because we are extremely hungry.
11 Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah.
[Our enemies] have raped the women in Jerusalem, [and they have done that to] the young women in [all] the towns of Judea.
12 Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders receive no respect.
[Our enemies] have hanged our leaders, and they do not respect our elders.
13 Young men toil at millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.
They force our young men to grind [flour] with millstones, and boys stagger while they [are forced to] carry [heavy] loads of firewood.
14 The elders have left the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
[Our] elders no longer sit at the city gates [to make important decisions]; the young men no longer play their musical [instruments].
15 Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
We [SYN] are no longer joyful; instead of dancing [joyfully], we now mourn.
16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
The wreaths [of flowers] have fallen off our heads. Terrible things have happened to us because of the sins that we committed.
17 Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim—
We [SYN] are tired and discouraged [IDM], and we cannot see well because our eyes are [full of tears].
18 because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
Jerusalem is [completely] deserted, and jackals/wolves prowl around it.
19 You, O LORD, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation.
But Yahweh, you rule forever! You continue to rule [MTY] from one generation to the next generation.
20 Why have You forgotten us forever? Why have You forsaken us for so long?
[So] why [RHQ] have you forgotten us? Why [RHQ] have you abandoned us for a very long time?
21 Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old,
[Please] enable us to return to you, and enable us to prosper [MTY] as we did previously.
22 unless You have utterly rejected us and remain angry with us beyond measure.
Please do that, because we hope that [RHQ] you have not rejected us forever and that [RHQ] you do not continue to be extremely angry with us!
