Lamentations 5
Jerusalem's people pray to God
1 Lord, please think about what has happened to us.
See how ashamed we have become.
2 Strangers have taken our land for themselves.
Foreign people live in our homes.
3 We have become children without fathers.
5:3Their fathers had died when they fought against the enemy.
Our mothers have become widows.
4 We must pay money for the water that we drink.
We must buy expensive wood for our fires.
5 Our enemies make us work very hard.
We are tired and we have no rest.
6 We have agreed to serve the Egyptians and the Assyrians,
so that we could get food to eat.
5:6Assyria was country that was north of Israel. It was in what are now called northern Iraq and south-east Turkey. The Assyrians were enemies of the Israelites.
7 Our ancestors did wrong things but they are now dead.
We receive the punishment that they deserved.
8 Slaves now rule over us.
There is nobody to rescue us from their power.
9 Robbers hide in the fields,
so our lives are in danger when we look for food.
10 Our skin feels as hot as an oven.
We are so hungry that we have a fever.
5:10Fever means that illness has made a person's body very hot.
11 Our enemies have taken hold of the women in Zion.
They have sex with the young women in Judah's cities.
12 They have hung our rulers by their hands.
They have been cruel to our leaders.
13 They force the young men to work like slaves.
Our boys fall down as they carry heavy loads of wood.
14 Our leaders can no longer meet at the city gate.
5:14A city's leaders met together at the city gate to talk about things and to decide what is right.
The young men no longer make their music.
15 We are not happy any more.
We no longer dance, but we weep.
16 We have nothing to be proud of any more.
Terrible trouble will happen to us, because of our sins.
17 Because of this, we are very upset.
Our eyes are full of tears and we cannot see properly.
18 Mount Zion has become a heap of stones.
Wild animals walk all over it.
19 But Lord, you rule as king for ever.
Your kingdom will continue for all time.
20 Why do you still forget about us?
Why have you not come to help us for so long?
21 Lord, bring us back. Help us to return to you.
Let us live well, as we did before.
22 We are sure that you have not completely turned away from us.
Do not continue to be so angry with us.
