1Remember, O Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace.
2Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, our homes to foreigners.
3We have become orphans and fatherless, our mothers like widows.
4We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price.
5Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest.
6We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
7Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.
8Slaves rule over us, and there is none to free us from their hands.
9We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert.
10Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger.
11Women have been ravished in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah.
12Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect.
13Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.
14The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
15Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
16The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim
18for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it.
19You, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.
20Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long?
21Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old
22unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.