Lamentations 5
Expanded Bible
A Prayer to the Lord
5 Remember, Lord, what happened to us [C a call to God for help and revenge].
Look and see our ·disgrace [scorn].
2 Our ·land [L inheritance] has been turned over to strangers;
our houses have been given to foreigners.
3 We are like orphans with no father;
our mothers are like widows [C defenseless and vulnerable].
4 We have to buy the water we drink;
·we must pay for the firewood [L our wood comes with a price].
5 ·Those who chase after us want to catch us [L We are pursued] by the neck.
We are ·tired [exhausted] and find no rest.
6 We ·made an agreement with [L gave a hand to] Egypt
and with Assyria to get enough food [Is. 28:1—33:24; Jer. 2:35].
7 Our ·ancestors [fathers] sinned against you, but they are ·gone [L no more];
now we ·suffer because of their sins [L bear their iniquity].
8 ·Slaves [Servants] ·have become our rulers [L rule over us; Prov. 19:10; 30:21–22; Eccl. 10:5–7; Is. 24:2],
and no one can ·save us from them [L tear them off us].
9 We risk our lives to get our ·food [bread];
·we face death in the desert [L because of the sword in the wilderness; C fields were outside the walls of the city where the enemy camped].
10 Our skin is ·hot [or black] like an oven;
·we burn with [from the heat/fever of] ·starvation [famine].
11 ·The enemy [L They] ·abused [violated; raped] the women ·of Jerusalem [L in Zion; C the location of the Temple]
and the ·girls [L virgins] in the ·cities [towns] of Judah.
12 Princes were hung by the hands;
they did not respect our ·elders [or old men].
13 The young men ·ground grain at the mill [are forced to grind],
and boys stumbled under loads of wood.
14 The ·elders [or old men] ·no longer sit at the city [L have left the] gates [C the center of government and business];
the young men no longer sing.
15 ·We have no more joy in [L Joy has left] our hearts;
our dancing has turned to ·sadness [mourning].
16 The crown has fallen from our head.
·How terrible it is [L Woe to us] because we sinned.
17 Because of this ·we are afraid [L our hearts are sick],
and now our eyes ·are dim [grow dark; Ps. 69:23].
18 Mount Zion [C Jerusalem] is ·empty [desolate],
and ·wild dogs [jackals] wander around it [Jer. 9:11; 10:22].
19 But you ·rule [sit; C as king] forever, Lord.
·You will be King [L Your throne] ·from now on [L from generation to generation].
20 Why have you forgotten us for so long?
Have you ·left [abandoned; forsaken] us ·forever [L for length of days]?
21 Bring us back to you, Lord, and we will ·return [be restored].
·Make [L Renew] our days as they were before,
22 or have you completely rejected us?
Are you so angry with us?
Lamentations 5
Jubilee Bible 2000
5 ¶ Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us; look, and behold our reproach.
2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
3 We are orphans without father; our mothers are as widows.
4 We have drunk our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.
5 Our necks are under persecution; we are become tired and have no rest.
6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers have sinned and are dead; and we have borne their chastisements.
8 Slaves have ruled over us: there was no one to deliver us out of their hand.
9 We got our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin became black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion and the virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hanged up by their hand; the countenance of the elders was not honoured.
13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
16 The crown is fallen from our head; woe now unto us, for we have sinned!
17 ¶ For this our heart is saddened; for these things our eyes are become dim.
18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
19 Thou, O LORD, shall remain for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.
20 Why should thou forget us for ever and forsake us for such a long time?
21 Turn us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as at the beginning.
22 For in stepping back thou hast rejected us; thou hast become very angry against us.
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