Lamentations 5

English Standard Version

Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord

5 ^(A)Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
    look, and see ^(B)our disgrace!
²^(C)Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
    our homes to foreigners.
³We have become orphans, fatherless;
    our mothers are like widows.
⁴We must pay for the water we drink;
    the wood we get must be bought.
⁵^(D)Our pursuers are at our necks;
    we are weary; we are given no rest.
⁶We have given the hand to ^(E)Egypt, and to ^(F)Assyria,
    to get bread enough.
⁷Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
    ^(G)and we bear their iniquities.
⁸^(H)Slaves rule over us;
    there is none to deliver us from their hand.
⁹^(I)We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
    because of the sword in the wilderness.
¹⁰^(J)Our skin is hot as an oven
    with ^(K)the burning heat of famine.
¹¹Women are raped in Zion,
    young women in the towns of Judah.
¹²^(L)Princes are hung up by their hands;
    ^(M)no respect is shown to the elders.
¹³Young men are compelled to ^(N)grind at the mill,
    and boys stagger ^(O)under loads of wood.
¹⁴^(P)The old men have left the city gate,
    the young men ^(Q)their music.
¹⁵^(R)The joy of our hearts has ceased;
    ^(S)our dancing has been turned to mourning.
¹⁶^(T)The crown has fallen from our head;
    woe to us, for we have sinned!
¹⁷For this ^(U)our heart has become sick,
    for these things ^(V)our eyes have grown dim,
¹⁸for Mount Zion which lies desolate;
    ^(W)jackals prowl over it.
¹⁹^(X)But you, O Lord, reign forever;
    your throne endures to all generations.
²⁰^(Y)Why do you forget us forever,
    why do you forsake us for so many days?
²¹^(Z)Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
    Renew our days as of old—
²²^(AA)unless you have utterly rejected us,
    and you remain exceedingly angry with us.

Psalm 36

English Standard Version

How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love

To the choirmaster. Of David, the ^(A)servant of the Lord.

36 Transgression speaks to the wicked
    deep in his heart;^[a]
^(B)there is no fear of God
    before his eyes.
²^(C)For he flatters himself in his own eyes
    that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
³The words of his mouth are ^(D)trouble and deceit;
    ^(E)he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
⁴He ^(F)plots ^(G)trouble while on his bed;
    he sets himself in ^(H)a way that is not good;
    ^(I)he does not reject evil.

⁵Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.
⁶^(J)Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
    ^(K)your judgments are like the great deep;
    man and beast you ^(L)save, O Lord.

⁷^(M)How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
    The children of mankind take refuge ^(N)in the shadow of your wings.
⁸They feast on ^(O)the abundance of your house,
    and you give them drink from ^(P)the river of ^(Q)your delights.
⁹For with you is ^(R)the fountain of life;
    ^(S)in your light do we see light.

¹⁰Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who ^(T)know you,
    and your righteousness to ^(U)the upright of heart!
¹¹Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,
    nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
¹²There ^(V)the evildoers lie fallen;
    they are thrust down, ^(W)unable to rise.