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Lamentations

Poems mourning the fall of Jerusalem and expressing hope in God's mercy.

Chapter 5

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1 Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.

*Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; think about it and see our disgrace.

2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.

*Our inheritance is given to outsiders, and our homes are now for other people.

3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.

*We have no parents; we're like children without a dad or mom - and our moms are like women whose spouses have passed away.

4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.

*We bought water with money; we also sold our wood to others.

5 Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.

*We face trouble: we work hard but get no break.

6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.

*We provided enough food for the Egyptians and the Assyrians so they were content.

7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.

*Our ancestors committed wrongs and no longer exist; we inherited their sins.

8 Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.

*Servants have been our rulers: nobody can save us from them.

9 We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.

*We get our food by risking our lives due to the dangers of the wilderness.

10 Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.

*Our skin turned dark, like a stove, due to the extremely bad food shortage.

11 They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.

*They sexually assaulted the women in Zion and the young girls in Judah's cities.

12 Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.

*Princes get punished with hanging: elderly people's respect was not shown.

13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.

*They captured the young guys for work, and kids got caught under the logs.

14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick.

*The older people stopped gathering at the entrance, and the young people stopped playing their music.

15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.

*Our happiness is gone; now we're sad and our celebrations have become sorrowful.

16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!

*The crown is no longer on our head; we are in trouble because we did wrong.

17 For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.

*Our hearts feel weak because of this; our eyes can't see clearly due to these things.

18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.

*Since Zion's mountain is empty, foxes roam around there.

19 Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.

*You, Lord, always stay forever; your throne lasts through many generations.

20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?

*Why do you keep forgetting us forever and abandoning us for such a long time?

21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.

*Turn us back to you, God, and we will turn; make our days like before.

22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.

*But you completely rejected us; you are extremely angry with us.

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* work in progress, there will be mistakes

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