[1] Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us. Look and see our disgrace! [2] Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners. [3] We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows. [4] We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price. [5] We are closely pursued; we are weary and find no rest. [6] We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. [7] Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment. [8] Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hands. [9] We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness. [10] Our skin is as hot as an oven with fever from our hunger. [11] Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah. [12] Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders receive no respect. [13] Young men toil at millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. [14] The elders have left the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. [15] Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. [16] The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! [17] Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim— [18] because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes. [19] You, O LORD, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation. [20] Why have You forgotten us forever? Why have You forsaken us for so long? [21] Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old, [22] unless You have utterly rejected us and remain angry with us beyond measure.
