1Remember, LORD, what has happened to us. Look and see our shame.
2Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
3We are orphans, without fathers. Our mothers are like widows.
4We have had to pay money for our own water. Our wood is sold to us.
5Our necks are under those who chase us. We work hard and get no rest.
6We have given our hand to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians, to have enough bread.
7Our fathers sinned, and they are gone. We have carried the weight of their sins.
8Servants rule over us. There is no one to save us out of their hand.
9We get our bread at the risk of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness.
10Our skin was black like an oven, because of the terrible famine.
11They raped the women in Zion, and the young girls in the cities of Judah.
12Princes were hanged up by their hand. The faces of the elders were not honoured.
13They took the young men to grind at the mill, and the children fell under loads of wood.
14The elders have gone from the gate, the young men from their music.
15The joy of our heart has stopped. Our dancing has turned into mourning.
16The crown has fallen from our head. How terrible for us, for we have sinned.
17Because of this our heart is faint. Because of these things our eyes grow dim.
18Because Mount Zion lies empty, and foxes walk over it.
19You, LORD, remain for ever. Your throne lasts from generation to generation.
20Why do you forget us for ever, and leave us for so long a time?
21Turn us back to yourself, LORD, and we will be turned. Make our days new, as they were long ago.
22But you have completely rejected us. You are very angry with us.