Lamentations 5

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

The speaker petitions the Lord to look upon the disgrace of the people whose inheritance and houses have been given to strangers. The population reports living as orphans and widows, having to pay for water and wood, and facing constant pursuit without rest. They describe submitting to Egypt and Assyria for bread, bearing the punishment for the sins of their fathers, and being ruled by slaves while facing mortal danger from the sword in the wilderness to secure food. The text details severe suffering throughout Judah and Zion, including ravaged women, hanged princes, disrespected elders, and laborers exhausted by heavy tasks, leading to the cessation of music, joy, and dancing as Mount Zion lies desolate. The chapter concludes with the people acknowledging the eternal reign of the Lord, questioning why He has forgotten them, and asking Him to restore them unless He has utterly rejected them.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

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