5:1 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace.
5:2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners.
5:3 We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows.
5:4 We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price.
5:5 Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest.
5:6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
5:7 Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.
5:8 Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to free us from their hands.
5:9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert.
5:10 Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger.
5:11 Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah.
5:12 Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect.
5:13 Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.
5:14 The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
5:15 Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
5:16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
5:17 Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim
5:18 for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it.
5:19 You, Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.
5:20 Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long?
5:21 Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old
5:22 unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.