Lamentations 5

A Prayer for Restoration

1Remember, O Lord, what has come upon us; Look, and behold our reproach!

2Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, And our houses to foreigners.

3We have become orphans and waifs, Our mothers are like widows.

4We pay for the water we drink, And our wood comes at a price.

5They pursue at our heels; We labor and have no rest.

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

7Our fathers sinned and are no more, But we bear their iniquities.

8Servants rule over us; There is none to deliver us from their hand.

9We get our bread at the risk of our lives, Because of the sword in the wilderness.

10Our skin is hot as an oven, Because of the fever of famine.

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

12Princes were hung up by their hands, And elders were not respected.

13Young men ground at the millstones; Boys staggered under loads of wood.

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

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

16The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

17Because of this our heart is faint; Because of these things our eyes grow dim;

18Because of Mount Zion which is desolate, With foxes walking about on it.

19You, O Lord, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation.

20Why do You forget us forever, And forsake us for so long a time?

21Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old,

22Unless You have utterly rejected us, And are very angry with us!