Lamentations 5:8-16

8Servants rule over us; There is no one to rescue us out of their hand.

9We get our bread at the risk of our lives Because of the sword [of the Arabs] in the wilderness [who may attack if we go out to harvest the crop].

10Our skin is as hot as [the heat of] an oven Because of the burning heat of [the fever of] famine.

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

12Princes were hung by their hands; Elders were not respected.

13Young men worked at the grinding mill, And boys fell [staggering] under loads of wood.

14Elders are gone from the gate; Young men from their music.

15The joy of our hearts has ended; Our dancing has been turned into mourning.

16The crown has fallen from our head [our honor is covered with dust]! Woe to us, for we have sinned!