⁹ “O God my rock,” I cry,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief,
    oppressed by my enemies?”

⁶ I am bent over and racked with pain.
    All day long I walk around filled with grief.

² The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
    my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
    and my place of safety.

⁸ Slaves have now become our masters;
    there is no one left to rescue us.
⁹ We hunt for food at the risk of our lives,
    for violence rules the countryside.
¹⁰ The famine has blackened our skin
    as though baked in an oven.
¹¹ Our enemies rape the women in Jerusalem^[a]
    and the young girls in all the towns of Judah.
¹² Our princes are being hanged by their thumbs,
    and our elders are treated with contempt.
¹³ Young men are led away to work at millstones,
    and boys stagger under heavy loads of wood.
¹⁴ The elders no longer sit in the city gates;
    the young men no longer dance and sing.
¹⁵ Joy has left our hearts;
    our dancing has turned to mourning.
¹⁶ The garlands have^[b] fallen from our heads.
    Weep for us because we have sinned.

²⁷ O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
    O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?

² He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress where I will never be shaken.

²³ Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep?
    Get up! Do not reject us forever.
²⁴ Why do you look the other way?
    Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression?

¹ I pray to you, O Lord, my rock.
    Do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you are silent,
    I might as well give up and die.