⁴ We pay for the water we drink,
And our wood comes at a price.
^5 (E)They pursue at our ^[a]heels;
We labor and have no rest.
^6 (F)We have given our hand ^(G)to the Egyptians
And the ^(H)Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.

^7 (I)Our fathers sinned and are no more,
But we bear their iniquities.
⁸ Servants rule over us;
There is none to deliver us from their hand.
⁹ We get our bread at the risk of our lives,
Because of the sword in the wilderness.

¹⁰ Our skin is hot as an oven,
Because of the fever of famine.
¹¹ They ^(J)ravished the women in Zion,
The maidens in the cities of Judah.
¹² Princes were hung up by their hands,
And elders were not respected.
¹³ Young men ^(K)ground at the millstones;
Boys staggered under loads of wood.
¹⁴ The elders have ceased gathering at the gate,
And the young men from their ^(L)music.

¹⁵ The joy of our heart has ceased;
Our dance has turned into ^(M)mourning.
^16 (N)The crown has fallen from our head.
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
¹⁷ Because of this our heart is faint;
^(O)Because of these things our eyes grow dim;
¹⁸ Because of Mount Zion which is ^(P)desolate,
With foxes walking about on it.

¹⁹ You, O Lord, ^(Q)remain forever;
^(R)Your throne from generation to generation.
^20 (S)Why do You forget us forever,
And forsake us for so long a time?
^21 (T)Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be ^[b]restored;
Renew our days as of old,
²² Unless You have utterly rejected us,
And are very angry with us!