Lamentations 5
World English Bible
5 Remember, Yahweh, what has come on us.
Look, and see our reproach.
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our houses to aliens.
3 We are orphans and fatherless.
Our mothers are as widows.
4 We have drunken our water for money.
Our wood is sold to us.
5 Our pursuers are on our necks.
We are weary, and have no rest.
6 We have given our hands to the Egyptians,
and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more.
We have borne their iniquities.
8 Servants rule over us.
There is no one to deliver us out of their hand.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin is black like an oven,
because of the burning heat of famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion,
the virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hanged up by their hands.
The faces of elders were not honored.
13 The young men carry millstones.
The children stumbled under loads of wood.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate,
and the young men from their music.
15 The joy of our heart has ceased.
Our dance is turned into mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head.
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 For this our heart is faint.
For these things our eyes are dim:
18 for the mountain of Zion, which is desolate.
The foxes walk on it.
19 You, Yahweh, remain forever.
Your throne is from generation to generation.
20 Why do you forget us forever,
and forsake us for so long a time?
21 Turn us to yourself, Yahweh, and we will be turned.
Renew our days as of old.
22 But you have utterly rejected us.
You are very angry against us.
Lamentations 5
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
5 O Lord, [earnestly] remember what has come upon us! Look down and see our reproach (our national disgrace)!
2 Our inheritance has fallen over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans and fatherless; our mothers are like widows.
4 We have had to pay money to drink the water that belongs to us; our [own] wood is sold to us.
5 Our pursuers are upon our necks [like a yoke]; we are weary and are allowed no rest.
6 We have given the hand [as a pledge of fidelity and submission] to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians [merely] to get food to satisfy [our hunger].
7 Our fathers sinned and are no more, and [a]we have borne their iniquities.(A)
8 Servants and slaves rule over us; there is none to deliver us out of their hands.(B)
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness [the wild Arabs, who may attack if we venture into the fields to reap our harvests].
10 Our skin glows and is parched as from [the heat of] an oven because of the burning heat of [the fever of] famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 They hung princes by their hands; the persons of elders were not respected.
13 Young men carried millstones, and boys fell [staggering] under [burdens of] wood.
14 The elders have ceased from [congregating at] the city’s gate, the young men from their music.
15 Ceased is the joy of our hearts; our dancing has turned into mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head [our honor is brought to the dust]! Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our hearts are faint and sick; because of these things our eyes are dim and see darkly.
18 As for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, the jackals prowl over it!
19 But You, O Lord, remain and reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to [all] generations.
20 Why do You forget us forever? Why do You forsake us so long?
21 Turn us to Yourself, O Lord, and we shall be turned and restored! Renew our days as of old!—
22 Or have You utterly rejected us? [b]Or are You exceedingly angry with us [still]?
Footnotes
- Lamentations 5:7 Fathers and sons alike are responsible for the calamity that has befallen Jerusalem. The truth of the matter is: this generation too deserved their punishment. “Woe to us, for we have sinned! Because of this our hearts are faint and sick; because of these things our eyes are dim and see darkly” (Lam. 5:16, 17).
- Lamentations 5:22 “The Book of Lamentations, like so many of even the saddest of the psalms, does in fact end with the language of hope, a hope that is so little apparent on the first reading of the conclusion to Lamentations that in many Hebrew manuscripts the words of Lam. 5:21 are repeated at the end, right after Lam. 5:22, so that its words of hope and restoration rather than the somber ending of “Or are You exceedingly angry with us [still]?” may be the last to fall upon the ear. A similar expedient is used in the case of Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, and Malachi” (The Cambridge Bible). See also footnote on Jer. 52:34.
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