Lamentations 5
The people of Judah lament their current state of suffering and subjugation, recalling how their inheritance has been taken over by foreigners and they have been forced to pay for basic necessities. They acknowledge that their fathers' sins have led to their current situation, and they have been subjected to humiliation, abuse, and hardship. The people express their sorrow and longing for a return to their former state, pleading with God to remember them and restore their fortunes. However, they also acknowledge that God has rejected them due to their sins.
1Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us. Consider and look kindly upon our disgrace2Our inheritance has been turned over to foreigners; our houses to outsiders3We have become orphans without a father; our mothers are like widows4We paid for our drinking water. We acquired our wood for a price5We were dragged by our necks. Being weary, no rest was given to us6We have given our hand to Egypt and to the Assyrians, so that we may be satisfied with bread7Our fathers have sinned, and are not. And we have carried their iniquities8Servants have become rulers over us. There was no one to redeem us from their hand9We obtained our bread at the risk of our lives, before the face of the sword, in the wilderness10Our skin was burned, as if by an oven, before the face of the tempest of the famine11They humiliated the women in Zion and the virgins in the cities of Judah12The leaders were suspended by their hand. They were not ashamed before the faces of the elders13They have sexually abused the adolescents, and the children were corrupted in the wood14The elders have ceased from the gates, the youths from the choir of the psalms15The gladness of our heart has failed, our singing has been turned into mourning16The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned17Because of this, our heart became gloomy; for this reason, our eyes have been darkened18because of mount Zion, because it was ruined. Foxes have wandered upon it19But you, O Lord, shall remain for eternity, your throne from generation to generation20Why would you forget us forever? Why would you forsake us for a long time21Convert us, O Lord, to you, and we shall be converted. Renew our days, as from the beginning22But you have utterly rejected us; you are vehemently angry against us
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