Lamentations 5

1 Remember, O what is LORD, come upon us: behold, and see our reproach.

Remember, Yahweh, what has happened to us; look and see our disgrace.

2 Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, our houses unto aliens.

Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers; our houses to foreigners.

3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.

We have become orphans, the fatherless, and our mothers are like widows.

4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.

We must pay silver for the water we drink, and we must pay silver to get our own wood.

5 Our pursuers are upon our necks: we are weary, and have no rest.

Those who are coming after us are close behind us; we are weary and we can find no rest.

6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.

We have given ourselves to Egypt and to Assyria to get enough food.

7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.

Our fathers sinned, and they are no more, and we bear their iniquities.

8 Servants rule over us: there is none to deliver us out of their hand.

Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to deliver us from their hand.

9 We get our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.

We get our bread only by risking our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness.

10 Our skin is black like an oven because of the burning heat of famine.

Our skin has grown as hot as an oven because of the burning heat of hunger.

11 They ravished the women in Zion, the maidens in the cities of Judah.

Women are raped in Zion, and virgins in the cities of Judah.

12 Princes were hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.

Princes are hung up by their own hands, and no honor is shown to the elders.

13 The young men bare the mill, and the children stumbled under the wood.

Young men are forced to grind grain with a millstone, and boys stagger under heavy loads of wood.

14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music.

The elders have left the city gate, and the young men have left their music.

15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.

The joy of our heart has ceased and our dancing has turned into mourning.

16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us! for we have sinned.

The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!

17 For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim;

For this our heart has become sick, for these things our eyes grow dim

18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate; the foxes walk upon it.

for Mount Zion lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it.

19 Thou, O LORD, abidest for ever; thy throne is from generation to generation.

But you, Yahweh, reign forever, and you will sit upon your throne from generation to generation.

20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, [and] forsake us so long time?

Why do you forget us forever? Why do you forsake us for so many days?

21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.

Restore us to yourself, Yahweh, and we will be restored. Renew our days as they were long ago—

22 But thou hast utterly rejected us, thou art very wroth against us.

unless you have utterly rejected us and you are angry with us beyond measure.