1 Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. |
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, our homes to foreigners. |
3 We have become orphans and fatherless, our mothers like widows. |
4 We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price. |
5 Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest. |
6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. |
7 Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment. |
8 Slaves rule over us, and there is none to free us from their hands. |
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert. |
10 Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger. |
11 Women have been ravished in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah. |
12 Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. |
13 Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. |
14 The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. |
15 Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. |
16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! |
17 Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim |
18 for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it. |
19 You, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. |
20 Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? |
21 Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old |
22 unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure. |