Lamentations 5

1Remember, LORD, what has come upon us; look, and see how we are put to shame. 2Our inheritance has been handed over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. 3We have become orphans, with no father; our mothers are like widows. 4We have to pay money for the water we drink; our own wood comes to us only at a price. 5Our pursuers are at our necks; we are worn out, and we are given no rest. 6We pledged ourselves to Egypt and to Assyria, to get enough bread. 7Our fathers sinned, and they are gone, and we carry the weight of their guilt. 8Slaves rule over us, and no one rescues us from their power. 9We risk our lives to bring in our bread, because of the sword in the wilderness. 10Our skin burns like an oven with the fever of hunger. 11Women were raped in Zion, virgins in the towns of Judah. 12Officials were hung up by their hands; no respect was shown to the elders. 13Young men haul the grinding stones, and boys stagger under loads of wood. 14The elders are gone from the city gate, the young men from their music. 15Joy has gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned into mourning. 16Our crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, because we have sinned! 17Because of this our hearts are sick, because of these things our eyes grow dim, 18because of Mount Zion, which lies in ruins, with jackals roaming over it.

19You, LORD, are enthroned forever; your throne stands through every generation. 20Why do you forget us for all time, and abandon us for so long? 21Turn us back to yourself, LORD, so that we may return; make our days new, as they were long ago, 22unless you have rejected us completely and your anger against us knows no limit.