Lamentations 5
1 Remember, O Yahweh, what hath befallen us, Look around, and see our reproach:
Remember, O Jehovah, what is come upon us! Look down and behold our reproach!
2 Our inheritance, turned over to foreigners, our houses, to aliens.
Our inheritance is fallen to strangers, Our houses to aliens.
3 Orphans, have we become, and fatherless, our mothers, are widows indeed.
We are orphans; we are without a father; Our mothers are as widows.
4 Our water—for silver, have we drunk, our wood—for a price, cometh in.
Our water we drink for money; Our wood is sold to us.
5 Upon our necks, are our pursuers, We labour, and there is allowed us no rest.
With the yoke upon our necks, we are driven; We are wearied, and have no rest.
6 To Egypt, have we stretched out our hand, to Assyria, to be satisfied with bread.
We have given the hand to the Egyptians, And to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers, sinned, and are not, and, we, their iniquities, have borne.
Our fathers sinned; they are no more, And we bear their iniquities.
8 Slaves, have ruled over us, There is none to set free from their hand.
Servants rule over us; There is none that delivereth out of their hand.
9 At the risk of our life, do we bring in our bread, because of the sword of the desert.
With the peril of our lives we get our bread, Because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin, as with a furnace, is scorched, because of the hot winds of famine.
Our skin is parched like an oven Because of the burnings of hunger.
11 Women—in Zion, were ravished, virgins, in the cities of Judah!
Matrons in Zion have they ravished, And maidens in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes, by their hand, have been hanged, The faces of elders, not honoured.
Princes were hanged up by their hand; The faces of the elders were not honored.
13 Young men, a millstone, have lifted, and, youths, under wood, have staggered.
Young men carried millstones, And boys fell under burdens of wood.
14 Elders, from the gates, have ceased. Young men, from their music.
The elders sit no more at the gate; The young men have ceased from their music.
15 Ceased hath the joy of our hearts, Changed to mourning, our dance.
The joy of our heart is at an end; Our dancing is turned into mourning.
16 Fallen is the crown of our head. Surely woe to us, for we have sinned.
The crown is fallen from our head; Woe unto us, that we have sinned!
17 For this cause, faint is our heart, For these things, dimmed are our eyes:
For this is our heart faint, For these things our eyes are dim;
18 Because of Mount Zion, which is desolate, jackals, have gone prowling therein.
On account of mount Zion, which is desolate; Foxes roam over it.
19 Thou, O Yahweh, unto times age-abiding, dost remain, Thy throne, from generation to generation:
But thou, O Jehovah, sittest as king forever; Thy throne endureth from generation to generation.
20 Wherefore shouldst thou perpetually forget us? forsake us, to length of days?
Wherefore dost thou wholly forget us, And abandon us, for so long a time?
21 Bring us back, O Yahweh, unto thyself, and we will come back! Renew our days, as of old;
Turn us again to thee, O Jehovah, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old!
22 For though thou hast not, utterly rejected, us, thou art wroth with us—exceedingly!
For shouldst thou utterly reject us? Shouldst thou be so exceedingly wroth against us?
