Lamentations 5

PRAYER FOR RESTORATION

5Lord, remember what has happened to us.

Look, and see our disgrace!^e

²Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,

our houses to foreigners.

³We have become orphans, fatherless;

our mothers are widows.

⁴We must pay for the water we drink;

our wood comes at a price.

⁵We are closely pursued;

we are tired, and no one offers us rest.

⁶We made a treaty with^C Egypt

and with Assyria, to get enough food.^f

⁷Our ancestors sinned; they no longer exist,

but we bear their punishment.

⁸Slaves rule over us;^g

no one rescues us from them.

⁹We secure our food at the risk of our lives

because of the sword in the wilderness.

¹⁰Our skin is as hot^D as an oven^h

from the ravages of hunger.

¹¹Women have been raped in Zion,

virgins in the cities of Judah.

¹²Princes have been hung up by their hands;

elders are shown no respect.ⁱ

¹³Young men labor at millstones;^j

boys stumble under loads of wood.

¹⁴The elders have left the city gate,

the young men, their music.^k

¹⁵Joy has left our hearts;^l

our dancing has turned to mourning.

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head.^m

Woe to us, for we have sinned.ⁿ

¹⁷Because of this, our heart is sick;

because of these, our eyes grow dim:^o

¹⁸because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate

and has jackals prowling in it.^p

¹⁹You, Lord, are enthroned forever;

your throne endures from generation to generation.^q

²⁰Why do you continually forget us,^r

abandon us for our entire lives?

²¹Lord, bring us back to yourself, so we may return;^s

renew our days as in former times,

²²unless you have completely rejected us

and are intensely angry with us.