Lamentations 5
1 Lord, haue thou mynde what bifelle to vs; se thou, and biholde oure schenschipe.
Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.
2 Oure eritage is turned to aliens, oure housis ben turned to straungers.
Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
3 We ben maad fadirles children with out fadir; oure modris ben as widewis.
We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers [are] as widows.
4 We drunken oure watir for monei, we bouyten oure trees for siluer.
We have drank our water for money; our wood is sold to us.
5 We weren dryuun bi oure heedis, and reste was not youun to feynt men.
Our necks [are] under persecution: we labor, [and] have no rest.
6 We yauen hond to Egipt, and to Assiriens, that we schulden be fillid with breed.
We have given the hand [to] the Egyptians, [and to] the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Oure fadris synneden, and ben not, and we baren the wickidnessis of hem.
Our fathers have sinned, [and are] not; and we have borne their iniquities.
8 Seruauntis weren lordis of vs, and noon was, that ayenbouyte fro the hond of hem.
Servants have ruled over us: [there is] none that doth deliver [us] out of their hand.
9 In oure lyues we brouyten breed to vs, fro the face of swerd in desert.
We procured our bread with [the peril of] our lives, because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Oure skynne is brent as a furneis, of the face of tempestis of hungur.
Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
11 Thei maden low wymmen in Sion, and virgyns in the citees of Juda.
They ravished the women in Zion, [and] the maids in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes weren hangid bi the hond; thei weren not aschamed of the faces of elde men.
Princes were hanged by their hand: the faces of elders were not honored.
13 Thei mysusiden yonge wexynge men vnchastli, and children fellen doun in tree.
They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
14 Elde men failiden fro yatis; yonge men failiden of the queer of singeris.
The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music.
15 The ioie of oure herte failide; oure song is turned in to mourenyng.
The joy of our heart hath ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
16 The coroun of oure heed fellen doun; wo to vs! for we synneden.
The crown is fallen [from] our head: woe to us, that we have sinned!
17 Therfor oure herte is maad soreuful, therfor oure iyen ben maad derk.
For this our heart is faint; for these [things] our eyes are dim.
18 For the hil of Sion, for it perischide; foxis yeden in it.
Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
19 But thou, Lord, schal dwelle with outen ende; thi seete schal dwelle in generacioun and in to generacioun.
Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.
20 Whi schalt thou foryete vs with outen ende, schalt thou forsake vs in to lengthe of daies?
Why dost thou forget us for ever, [and] forsake us so long time?
21 Lord, conuerte thou vs to thee, and we schal be conuertid; make thou newe oure daies, as at the bigynnyng.
Turn thou us to thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
22 But thou castynge awei hast cast awei vs; thou art wrooth ayens vs greetli.
But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.
