Lamentations 5
Lexham English Bible
A Request for Mercy
5 Remember, O Yahweh, what has become of us;
take note, and see our disgrace!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our houses, to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, fatherless,
our mothers are like widows.
4 We pay for water with money,[a]
our wood comes to us at a price.
5 We are driven on our necks;
we are weary, there is no rest for us.
6 We have made a deal with Egypt and Assyria
to be satisfied with food.
7 Our fathers have sinned, they are no more;
we bear their iniquity.
8 Slaves rule over us;
there is no one to deliver us from their hand.
9 We risk our life for food[b]
because of the sword of the desert.
10 Our skin is hot like an oven
because of the scorching famine.
11 They raped women in Zion,
young women[c] in the cities of Judah.
12 They hang princes by their hand;
they do not show respect before elders.
13 Young men must carry a hand-mill
and boys stumble under the wood.
14 Elders are no longer at the gate,
young men no longer play stringed instruments.
15 The joy of our hearts has stopped;
our circle-dancing has changed to a mourning ceremony.
16 The crown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this, our heart has become faint,
because of these, our eyes have become dim.
18 Because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate,
foxes tread on it.[d]
19 You, O Yahweh, will sit forever
on your throne for generation to generation.
20 Why have you forgotten us forever?
Why have you forsaken us for so long?[e]
21 Restore us to you, O Yahweh, that we will be restored;
renew our days as of old.
22 Unless you have utterly rejected us,
unless you are angry with us beyond measure.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 5:4 Literally “we drink our water by money”
- Lamentations 5:9 Literally “We take our food at our life”
- Lamentations 5:11 Or “virgins”
- Lamentations 5:18 Literally “foxes go on it”
- Lamentations 5:20 Literally “for long days”
Lamentations 5
International Standard Version
A Prayer for Deliverance
5 Lord, remember what has happened to us.
Pay attention, and look at our shame!
2 Our inheritance has[a] been turned over to strangers,
and our homes to foreigners.
3 We are now orphans—without fathers—
and our mothers are like widows.
4 We pay to drink our own water,
and our own wood is sold to us at high price.
5 Our pursuers breathe down[b] our necks;
we are weary, but there is no rest for us.
6 We made a deal with the Egyptians and the Assyrians
for the price of food.[c]
7 Our ancestors sinned and no longer exist
yet we continue to bear the consequences of their sin.
8 Slaves rule over us,
and no one delivers us from their control.[d]
9 We risk our lives to obtain our food,
facing death[e] in the desert.
10 Our skin blisters[f] as from an oven,
due to ravaging blasts of the famine.
11 They have raped women in Zion,
young women[g] in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes they have hung by their hands;
elders[h] they have disrespected.
13 Our[i] young men must grind grain with a millstone;
our[j] youths stumble under the weight of wood.
15 The joy of our hearts has ceased,
and our dancing has turned into dirges.
16 The crown has fallen from our head—
woe to us, because we have sinned!
17 This is why our hearts faint,
and why our eyes grow dim:
18 Because Mount Zion is desolate;
foxes roam around it.
19 You, Lord, are forever—
your throne endures from generation to generation.
20 So why have you completely forgotten us,
forsaking us for so long?
21 Restore us to yourself, Lord,
so that we may return.
Renew our days as before,
22 unless you have utterly rejected us
and are angry with us without limit.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 5:2 Or possessions have
- Lamentations 5:5 Lit. pursuers are on
- Lamentations 5:6 Lit. Assyrians, being satisfied with bread
- Lamentations 5:8 Lit. hand
- Lamentations 5:9 Lit. facing the sword
- Lamentations 5:10 Lit. blackens
- Lamentations 5:11 Lit. the virgins
- Lamentations 5:12 Lit. the faces of the elders
- Lamentations 5:13 The Heb. lacks Our
- Lamentations 5:13 The Heb. lacks our
- Lamentations 5:14 The Heb. lacks Our
- Lamentations 5:14 The Heb. lacks ruling
- Lamentations 5:14 The Heb. lacks our
- Lamentations 5:14 The Heb. lacks have abandoned
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