Lamentations 5
BRG Bible
5 Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.
2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.
5 Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.
6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
8 Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.
9 We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.
13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
17 For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
19 Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.
20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?
21 Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.
Lamentations 5
Easy-to-Read Version
A Prayer to the Lord
5 Remember, Lord, what happened to us.
Look and see our shame.
2 Our land has been turned over to strangers.
Our houses have been given to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans.
We have no father.
Our mothers have become like widows.
4 We have to buy the water that we drink.
We have to pay for the wood that we use.
5 We are forced to wear a yoke on our necks.
We get tired, and we have no rest.
6 We made an agreement with Egypt.
We also made an agreement with Assyria to get enough bread.
7 Our ancestors sinned against you, and now they are dead.
And we are suffering because of their sins.
8 Slaves have become our rulers.
No one can save us from them.
9 We risk our lives to get food.
There are men in the desert with swords.
10 Our skin is hot like an oven.
We have a high fever because of our hunger.
11 The enemy raped the women of Zion.
They raped the women in the cities of Judah.
12 The enemy hanged our princes.
They didn’t honor our elders.
13 The enemy made our young men grind grain at the mill.
Our young men stumbled under loads of wood.
14 The elders no longer sit at the gates of the city.
The young men no longer make music.
15 We have no more joy in our hearts.
Our dancing has changed to crying for the dead.
16 The crown has fallen from our head.
Things have gone bad for us because we sinned.
17 For this reason, our hearts have become sick,
and our eyes cannot see clearly.
18 Mount Zion is a wasteland.
Foxes run around on Mount Zion.
19 But you rule forever, Lord.
Your kingly chair lasts forever and ever.
20 You seem to have forgotten us forever.
You seem to have left us alone for such a long time.
21 Bring us back to you, Lord.
We will gladly come back to you.
Make our lives as they were before.
22 You were very angry with us.
Have you completely rejected us?
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