Lamentations - Chapter 5 | Good News Translation

  • 1. Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us. Look at us, and see our disgrace.
  • 2. Our property is in the hands of strangers; foreigners are living in our homes.
  • 3. Our fathers have been killed by the enemy, and now our mothers are widows.
  • 4. We must pay for the water we drink; we must buy the wood we need for fuel.
  • 5. Driven hard like donkeys or camels, we are tired, but are allowed no rest.
  • 6. To get food enough to stay alive, we went begging to Egypt and Assyria.
  • 7. Our ancestors sinned, but now they are gone, and we are suffering for their sins.
  • 8. Our rulers are no better than slaves, and no one can save us from their power.
  • 9. Murderers roam through the countryside; we risk our lives when we look for food.
  • 10. Hunger has made us burn with fever until our skin is as hot as an oven.
  • 11. Our wives have been raped on Mount Zion itself; in every Judean village our daughters have been forced to submit.
  • 12. Our leaders have been taken and hanged; our elders are shown no respect.
  • 13. Our young men are forced to grind grain like slaves; boys go staggering under heavy loads of wood.
  • 14. The old people no longer sit at the city gate, and the young people no longer make music.
  • 15. Happiness has gone out of our lives; grief has taken the place of our dances.
  • 16. Nothing is left of all we were proud of. We sinned, and now we are doomed.
  • 17. We are sick at our very hearts and can hardly see through our tears,
  • 18. because Mount Zion lies lonely and deserted, and wild jackals prowl through its ruins.
  • 19. But you, O LORD, are king forever and will rule to the end of time.
  • 20. Why have you abandoned us so long? Will you ever remember us again?
  • 21. Bring us back to you, LORD! Bring us back! Restore our ancient glory.
  • 22. Or have you rejected us forever? Is there no limit to your anger?
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