5 Lord, remember what has happened to us.
Look, and see our disgrace!^(A)
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^[a] Egypt
and with Assyria, to get enough food.^(B)
7 Our ancestors sinned; they no longer exist,
but we bear their punishment.^(C)
8 Slaves rule over us;^(D)
no one rescues us from them.
⁹ We secure our food at the risk of our lives
because of the sword in the wilderness.
¹⁰ Our skin is as hot^[b] as an oven^(E)
from the ravages of hunger.
¹¹ Women have been raped in Zion,
virgins in the cities of Judah.
¹² Princes have been hung up by their hands;
elders are shown no respect.^(F)
13 Young men labour at millstones;^(G)
boys stumble under loads of wood.
¹⁴ The elders have left the city gate,
the young men, their music.^(H)
15 Joy has left our hearts;^(I)
our dancing has turned to mourning.
¹⁶ The crown has fallen from our head.^(J)
Woe to us, for we have sinned.^(K)
17 Because of this, our heart is sick;
because of these, our eyes grow dim:^(L)
18 because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate
and has jackals prowling in it.^(M)
19 You, Lord, are enthroned for ever;
your throne endures from generation to generation.^(N)
20 Why do you continually forget us,^(O)
abandon us for our entire lives?
²¹ Lord, bring us back to yourself, so that we may return;^(P)
renew our days as in former times,
²² unless you have completely rejected us
and are intensely angry with us.