The People of Jerusalem Pray:

5:1 1 O Lord, reflect on2 what has happened to us;

consider3 and look at4 our disgrace.

5:2 Our inheritance5 is turned over to strangers;

foreigners now occupy our homes.6

5:3 We have become fatherless orphans;

our mothers have become widows.

5:4 We must pay money7 for our own water;8

we must buy our own wood at a steep price.9

5:5 We are pursued—they are breathing down our necks;10

we are weary and have no rest.11

5:6 We have submitted12 to Egypt and Assyria

in order to buy food to eat.13

5:7 Our forefathers14 sinned and are dead,15

but we16 suffer17 their punishment.18

5:8 Slaves19 rule over us;

there is no one to rescue us from their power.20

5:9 At the risk21 of our lives22 we get our food23

because robbers lurk24 in the countryside.25

5:10 Our skin is hot as an oven

due to a fever from hunger.26

5:11 They raped27 women in Zion,

virgins in the towns of Judah.

5:12 Princes were hung by their hands;

elders were mistreated.28

5:13 The young men perform menial labor;29

boys stagger from their labor.30

5:14 The elders are gone from the city gate;

the young men have stopped playing their music.

5:15 Our hearts no longer have any joy;31

our dancing is turned to mourning.

5:16 The crown has fallen from our head;

woe to us, for we have sinned!

5:17 Because of this, our hearts are sick;32

because of these things, we can hardly see33 through our tears.34

5:18 For wild animals35 are prowling over Mount Zion,

which lies desolate.

5:19 But you, O Lord, reign forever;

your throne endures from generation to generation.

5:20 Why do you keep on forgetting36 us?

Why do you forsake us so long?

5:21 Bring us back to yourself, O Lord, so that we may return37 to you;

renew our life38 as in days before,39

5:22 unless40 you have utterly rejected us41

and are angry with us beyond measure.42