Prayer for Restoration

5 * Yahweh, remember what has happened to us.

Look, and see our disgrace! b

2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,

our houses to foreigners.

3 We have become orphans, fatherless;

our mothers are widows.

4 We must pay for the water we drink;

our wood comes at a price.

5 We are closely pursued;

we are tired, and no one offers us rest.

6 We made a treaty with c Egypt

and with Assyria, to get enough food. d

7 Our fathers sinned; they no longer exist,

but we bear their punishment.

8 Slaves rule over us; e

no one rescues us from their hands.

9 We secure our food at the risk of our lives

because of the sword in the wilderness.

10 Our skin is as hot f as an oven g

from the ravages of hunger.

11 Women are raped in * Zion,

girls in the cities of Judah.

12 Princes are hung up by their hands;

elders are shown no respect. h

13 Young men labor at millstones; i

boys stumble under loads of wood.

14 The elders have left the city * gate,

the young men, their music. j

15 Joy has left our hearts; k

our dancing has turned to mourning.

16 The crown has fallen from our head. l

Woe to us, for we have sinned. m

17 Because of this, our heart is sick;

because of these, our eyes grow dim: n

18 because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate

and has jackals prowling in it. o

19 You, Lord, are enthroned forever;

Your throne endures from generation to generation. p

20 Why have You forgotten us forever, q

abandoned us for our entire lives?

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

renew our days as in former times,

22 unless You have completely rejected us

and are intensely angry with us.