Lamentations 5
Revised Standard Version
A Plea for Mercy
5 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
behold, and see our disgrace!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to aliens.
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.
6 We have given the hand to Egypt,
and to Assyria, to get bread enough.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
and we bear their iniquities.
8 Slaves rule over us;
there is none to deliver us from their hand.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven
with the burning heat of famine.
11 Women are ravished in Zion,
virgins in the towns of Judah.
12 Princes are hung up by their hands;
no respect is shown to the elders.
13 Young men are compelled to grind at the mill;
and boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The old men have quit the city gate,
the young men their music.
15 The joy of our hearts has ceased;
our dancing has been turned to mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 For this our heart has become sick,
for these things our eyes have grown dim,
18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate;
jackals prowl over it.
19 But thou, O Lord, dost reign for ever;
thy throne endures to all generations.
20 Why dost thou forget us for ever,
why dost thou so long forsake us?
21 Restore us to thyself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old!
22 Or hast thou utterly rejected us?
Art thou exceedingly angry with us?
Footnotes
- Lamentations 5:5 Symmachus: Heb lacks with a yoke
Lamentations 5
American Standard Version
5 Remember, O Jehovah, what is come upon us:
Behold, and see our reproach.
2 Our inheritance is turned unto strangers,
Our houses unto aliens.
3 We are orphans and fatherless;
Our mothers are as widows.
4 We have drunken our water for money;
Our wood [a]is sold unto us.
5 Our pursuers are upon our necks:
We are weary, 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 sinned, and are not;
And we have borne their iniquities.
8 Servants rule over us:
There is none to deliver us out of their hand.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
Because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin is [b]black like an oven,
Because of the burning heat of famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hanged up by their hand:
The faces of elders were not honored.
13 The young men bare the mill;
And the children stumbled 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 unto us! for we have sinned.
17 For this our heart is faint;
For these things our eyes are dim;
18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate:
The [c]foxes walk upon it.
19 Thou, O Jehovah, [d]abidest for ever;
Thy throne is from generation to generation.
20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever,
And forsake us so long time?
21 Turn thou us unto thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned;
Renew our days as of old.
22 [e]But thou hast utterly rejected us;
Thou art very wroth against us.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 5:4 Hebrew cometh for price.
- Lamentations 5:10 Or, hot
- Lamentations 5:18 Or, jackals
- Lamentations 5:19 Or, sittest as King
- Lamentations 5:22 Or, Unless thou . . . and art etc.
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