Lamentations 5

Prayer for Restoration

5Yahweh, remember what has happened to us.

Look, and see our disgrace! ^b

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 ^cEgypt

and with Assyria, to get enough food. ^d

⁷Our fathers sinned; they no longer exist,

but we bear their punishment.

⁸Slaves rule over us; ^e

no one rescues us from their hands.

⁹We secure our food at the risk of our lives

because of the sword in the wilderness.

¹⁰Our skin is as hot ^fas an oven ^g

from the ravages of hunger.

¹¹Women are raped in Zion,

girls in the cities of Judah.

¹²Princes are hung up by their hands;

elders are shown no respect. ^h

¹³Young men labor at millstones; ⁱ

boys stumble under loads of wood.

¹⁴The elders have left the city gate,

the young men, their music. ^j

¹⁵Joy has left our hearts; ^k

our dancing has turned to mourning.

¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head. ^l

Woe to us, for we have sinned. ^m

¹⁷Because of this, our heart is sick;

because of these, our eyes grow dim: ⁿ

¹⁸because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate

and has jackals prowling in it. ^o

¹⁹You, Lord, are enthroned forever;

Your throne endures from generation to generation. ^p

²⁰Why have You forgotten us forever, ^q

abandoned us for our entire lives?

²¹Lord, restore us to Yourself, so we may return; ^r

renew our days as in former times,

²²unless You have completely rejected us

and are intensely angry with us.