Klagelieder 5,1 | New International Reader’s Version

1 LORD, think about what has happened to us. Look at the shame our enemies have brought on us. 2 The land you gave us has been turned over to outsiders. Our homes have been given to strangers. 3 Our fathers have been killed. Our mothers don’t have husbands. 4 We have to buy the water we drink. We have to pay for the wood we use. 5 Those who chase us are right behind us. We’re tired and can’t get any rest. 6 We put ourselves under the control of Egypt and Assyria just to get enough bread. 7 Our people of long ago sinned. And they are now dead. We are being punished because of their sins. 8 Slaves rule over us. No one can set us free from their power. 9 We put our lives in danger just to get some bread to eat. Robbers in the desert might kill us with their swords. 10 Our skin is as hot as an oven. We are so hungry we’re burning up with fever. 11 Our women have been treated badly in Zion. Our virgins have been treated badly in the towns of Judah. 12 Our princes have been hung up by their hands. No one shows our elders any respect. 13 Our young men are forced to grind corn at the mill. Our boys almost fall down as they carry heavy loads of wood. 14 Our elders don’t go to the city gate anymore. Our young men have stopped playing their music. 15 There isn’t any joy in our hearts. Our dancing has turned into mourning. 16 All of our honour is gone. How terrible it is for us because we have sinned! 17 So our hearts are weak. Our eyes can’t see very clearly. 18 Mount Zion has been deserted. Wild dogs are prowling all around on it. 19 LORD, you rule for ever. Your throne will last for all time to come. 20 Why do you always forget us? Why have you deserted us for so long? 21 LORD, please bring us back to you. Then we can return. Make our lives like new again. 22 Or have you completely turned away from us? Are you really that angry with us?

English Standard Version

Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord

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

Klagelieder 5,1 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord