Lamentations 5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
A Plea for Mercy
5 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
look, and see our disgrace!(A)
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to aliens.(B)
3 We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are like widows.
4 We must pay for the water we drink;
the wood we get must be bought.
5 With a yoke[a] on our necks we are hard driven;
we are weary; we are given no rest.(C)
6 We have made a pact with[b] Egypt and Assyria
to get enough bread.(D)
7 Our ancestors sinned; they are no more,
and we bear their iniquities.(E)
8 Slaves rule over us;
there is no one to deliver us from their hand.(F)
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our skin is black as an oven
from the scorching heat of famine.(G)
11 Women are raped in Zion,
young women in the towns of Judah.(H)
12 Princes are hung up by their hands;
no respect is shown to the elders.(I)
13 Young men are compelled to grind,
and boys stagger under loads of wood.(J)
14 The old men have left the city gate,
the young men their music.
15 The joy of our hearts has ceased;
our dancing has been turned to mourning.(K)
16 The crown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our hearts are sick;
because of these things our eyes have grown dim:(L)
18 because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate;
jackals prowl over it.
19 But you, O Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures to all generations.(M)
20 Why have you forgotten us completely?
Why have you forsaken us these many days?(N)
21 Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored;
renew our days as of old—(O)
22 unless you have utterly rejected us
and are angry with us beyond measure.(P)
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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