Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Lamentations 5
Remember what has happened
Remember, LORD, what has happened to us.
Look and see our disgrace.
Our inheritance has passed to strangers,
our houses to foreigners.
We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are like widows.
We pay silver to drink our own water;
we must buy our own wood.
Our pursuers are at our necks.
We are exhausted and allowed no rest.
We gave our hand to Egypt,
to Assyria, to get enough bread.
Our ancestors sinned and are no more;
we bear their guilt.
Slaves rule over us;
no one rescues us from their hand.
We risk our lives to bring in bread
because of the sword in the wilderness.
Our skin burns like an oven
from hunger's scorching heat.
The loss of ordinary life
They raped women in Zion,
virgins in Judah's towns.
Officials were hung by their hands;
elders were shown no respect.
Young men carry millstones;
boys stumble under loads of wood.
Elders have left the city gate;
young men have stopped their music.
Joy has left our hearts;
our dancing has turned to mourning.
The crown has fallen from our head.
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
For this our hearts are sick;
for these things our eyes grow dim:
Mount Zion lies desolate,
and foxes walk over it.
Bring us back
But you, LORD, sit enthroned forever;
your throne endures from generation to generation.
Why do you forget us forever,
forsake us for so many days?
Bring us back to you, LORD, and we will return.
Renew our days as they were long ago—
unless you have utterly rejected us
and are angry with us beyond measure.