Lamentations 5

5Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;

look, and see our disgrace.^s

²Our inheritance^t has been turned over to strangers,^u

our homes^v to foreigners.^w

³We have become fatherless,

our mothers are widows.^x

⁴We must buy the water we drink;^y

our wood can be had only at a price.^z

⁵Those who pursue us are at our heels;

we are weary^a and find no rest.^b

⁶We submitted to Egypt and Assyria^c

to get enough bread.

⁷Our ancestors^d sinned and are no more,

and we bear their punishment.^e

⁸Slaves^f rule over us,

and there is no one to free us from their hands.^g

⁹We get our bread at the risk of our lives

because of the sword in the desert.

¹⁰Our skin is hot as an oven,

feverish from hunger.^h

¹¹Women have been violatedⁱ in Zion,

and virgins in the towns of Judah.

¹²Princes have been hung up by their hands;

elders^j are shown no respect.^k

¹³Young men toil at the millstones;

boys stagger under loads of wood.

¹⁴The elders are gone from the city gate;

the young men have stopped their music.^l

¹⁵Joy is gone from our hearts;

our dancing has turned to mourning.^m

¹⁶The crownⁿ has fallen from our head.^o

Woe to us, for we have sinned!^p

¹⁷Because of this our hearts^q are faint,^r

because of these things our eyes^s grow dim^t

¹⁸for Mount Zion,^u which lies desolate,^v

with jackals prowling over it.

¹⁹You, Lord, reign forever;^w

your throne endures^x from generation to generation.

²⁰Why do you always forget us?^y

Why do you forsake^z us so long?

²¹Restore^a us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;

renew our days as of old

²²unless you have utterly rejected us^b

and are angry with us beyond measure.^c