Lamentations 5

A Prayer for Mercy

1 Remember, Lord, what has come upon us;
Look, and see our ^adisgrace!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to ^bstrangers,
Our ^chouses to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, ^dwithout a father;
Our mothers are like widows.
4 ▼

▼Lit We drink our water with silver

We have to pay for our drinking ^fwater,
Our wood comes to us at a price.
5 ▼

▼Lit We have been pursued upon

Our pursuers are at our necks;
We are worn out, we are given ^hno rest.
6 We have ▼

▼Lit given Egypt a hand

submitted to ^jEgypt and Assyria ▼

▼Lit to be satisfied with

to get enough bread.
7 Our ^lfathers sinned, and are gone;
It is we who have been burdened with the punishment for their wrongdoings.
8 ^mSlaves rule over us;
There is ⁿno one to rescue us from their hand.
9 We get our bread ▼

▼Lit with our soul

at the ^prisk of our lives
Because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our skin has become as ^qhot as an oven,
Because of the ravages of hunger.
11 They violated the ^rwomen in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Leaders were hung by their hands;
▼

▼Lit The faces of elders

, ^tElders were not respected.
13 Young men ▼

▼Lit carried the

, ^vworked at the grinding mill,
And youths ^wstaggered under loads of wood.
14 Elders are absent from the gate,
Young men from their ^xmusic.
15 The joy of our hearts has ^yended;
Our dancing has been turned into mourning.
16 The ^zcrown has fallen from our head;
^aaWoe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our ^abheart is faint,
Because of these things our ^aceyes are dim;
18 Because of ^adMount Zion which lies desolate,
^aeJackals prowl in it.

19 ^afYou, Lord, ▼

▼Lit sit

rule forever;
Your ^ahthrone is from generation to generation.
20 Why will You ^aiforget us forever?
Why do You abandon us for ▼

▼Lit length of days

so long?
21 ^akRestore us to You, Lord, so that we may be restored;
Renew ^alour days as of old,
22 Unless ^amYou have utterly rejected us
And are exceedingly ^anangry with us.