Lamentations Chapter 5
Prayer for Restoration
1 Yahveh, remember what’s happened to us;
look at our disgrace!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to foreigners,
and our houses belong to aliens.
3 We’ve become orphans without fathers;
our mothers are like widows.
4 We have to pay for drinking water and buy wood.
5 Our drivers put yokes on our necks;
we’re worn out; we can’t get any rest.
Lam 5:1-5
6 We’ve submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
7 Our fathers sinned, and they’re gone;
but we have to suffer for their sins.
8 Slaves rule us; nobody can deliver us from them.
9 We risk our lives just getting bread
because of the sword in the open country.
10 Our skin is hot like an oven,
because of the burning heat of famine.
11 They rape the women in Zion,
and the virgins in the towns in Judah.
Lam 5:6-11
12 They hang up officials by their hands,
and show no respect for old men.
13 Young men work at the grinding mill;
and stagger under loads of wood.
14 Elders are gone from the city gate,
young men have quit their music.
15 The joy in our hearts is gone;
our dancing has turned into mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head;
misfortune awaits us because we’ve sinned!
17 Our heart is faint because of it;
our eyes are weak.
18 Jackals prowl in desolate Zion.
Lam 5:12-18
19 Yahveh, you rule forever;
your throne goes on for endless generations.
20 Why don’t you keep us in mind forever?
Why abandon us so long?
21 Restore us to yourself, Yahveh, so we can be restored;
renew our days as of old,
22 unless you’ve completely rejected us,
and are really angry with us.
Lam 5:19-22
Version by Virgil Warren: christir.org