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# Lamentations, Chapter 5
## Chapter 5
### The Community’s Lament to the Lord
1 Remember, LORD, what has happened to us, ^lamentations-05-1
pay attention, and see our disgrace:
2 Our heritage is turned over to strangers, ^lamentations-05-2
our homes, to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, without fathers; ^lamentations-05-3
our mothers are like widows.
4 We pay money to drink our own water, ^lamentations-05-4
our own wood comes at a price.
5 With a yoke on our necks, we are driven; ^lamentations-05-5
we are worn out, but allowed no rest.
6 We extended a hand to Egypt and Assyria, ^lamentations-05-6
to satisfy our need of bread.
7 Our ancestors, who sinned, are no more; ^lamentations-05-7
but now we bear their guilt.
8 Servants rule over us, ^lamentations-05-8
with no one to tear us from their hands.
9 We risk our lives just to get bread, ^lamentations-05-9
exposed to the desert heat;
10 Our skin heats up like an oven, ^lamentations-05-10
from the searing blasts of famine.
11 Women are raped in Zion, ^lamentations-05-11
young women in the cities of Judah;
12 Princes have been hanged by them, ^lamentations-05-12
elders shown no respect.
13 Young men carry millstones, ^lamentations-05-13
boys stagger under loads of wood;
14 The elders have abandoned the gate, ^lamentations-05-14
the young men their music.
15 The joy of our hearts has ceased, ^lamentations-05-15
dancing has turned into mourning;
16 The crown has fallen from our head: ^lamentations-05-16
woe to us that we sinned!
17 Because of this our hearts grow sick, ^lamentations-05-17
at this our eyes grow dim:
18 Because of Mount Zion, lying desolate, ^lamentations-05-18
and the jackals roaming there!
19 But you, LORD, are enthroned forever; ^lamentations-05-19
your throne stands from age to age.
20 Why have you utterly forgotten us, ^lamentations-05-20
forsaken us for so long?
21 Bring us back to you, LORD, that we may return: ^lamentations-05-21
renew our days as of old.
22 For now you have indeed rejected us ^lamentations-05-22
and utterly turned your wrath against us.
\* (5:6) Extended a hand: that is, made an alliance. In its state of abjection, Judah was forced to depend on the major powers to the west and the east for subsistence.
\* (5:8) Servants: the Hebrew word for “servant” is also the word used for an official of relatively high status (servant of the ruler; cf. [2 Kgs 25:24], where the term is used to refer to Babylonian rulers over occupied Jerusalem); the author doubtless intends the double meaning here.
\* (5:14) The gate: a place of assembly, where city decisions were made and judgment given by the elders and other community leaders; see note on [Ru 4:1].
\* (5:20] – [22) Unlike most of the laments found in the Book of Psalms, the Book of Lamentations never moves from lament to thanksgiving. It ends with this question still unanswered by God: “Why have you utterly forgotten us?”
a. (5:2) [Ps 79:1].
b. (5:9) [Lam 1:11].
c. (5:10) [Lam 4:8].
d. (5:11) [Zec 14:2].
e. (5:12) [Lam 4:16].
f. (5:15) [Jer 16:9]; [25:10]; [Am 8:10].
g. (5:19) ([[psalm-09|Ps 9]]:8]; [45:7]; [102:13], [27].
h. (5:20) ([[psalm-13|Ps 13]]:2]; [42:10]; [Is 49:14].
i. (5:21) [Ps 80:19] – [20].
j. (5:22) [Jer 14:19].
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_New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C.
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