Lamentations 5

A Prayer for Restoration

5Remember, ^aO Lord, what has come upon us;

Look, and behold ^bour reproach!

^2cOur inheritance has been turned over to aliens,

And our houses to foreigners.

³We have become orphans and waifs,

Our mothers are like ^dwidows.

⁴We pay for the water we drink,

And our wood comes at a price.

^5eThey pursue at our ¹heels;

We labor and have no rest.

^6fWe have given our hand ^gto the Egyptians

And the ^hAssyrians, to be satisfied with bread.

⁷ⁱOur fathers sinned and are no more,

But we bear their iniquities.

⁸Servants rule over us;

There is none to deliver us from their hand.

⁹We get our bread at the risk of our lives,

Because of the sword in the wilderness.

¹⁰Our skin is hot as an oven,

Because of the fever of famine.

¹¹They ^jravished the women in Zion,

The maidens in the cities of Judah.

¹²Princes were hung up by their hands,

And elders were not respected.

¹³Young men ^kground at the millstones;

Boys staggered under loads of wood.

¹⁴The elders have ceased gathering at the gate,

And the young men from their ^lmusic.

¹⁵The joy of our heart has ceased;

Our dance has turned into ^mmourning.

¹⁶ⁿThe crown has fallen from our head.

Woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷Because of this our heart is faint;

^oBecause of these things our eyes grow dim;

¹⁸Because of Mount Zion which is ^pdesolate,

With foxes walking about on it.

¹⁹You, O Lord, ^qremain forever;

^rYour throne from generation to generation.

^20sWhy do You forget us forever,

And forsake us for so long a time?

^21tTurn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be ²restored;

Renew our days as of old,

²²Unless You have utterly rejected us,

And are very angry with us!