A Prayer to the Lord
5 Remember, Lord, what happened to us [C a call to God for help and revenge].
Look and see our ·disgrace [scorn].
2 Our ·land [L inheritance] has been turned over to strangers;
our houses have been given to foreigners.
3 We are like orphans with no father;
our mothers are like widows [C defenseless and vulnerable].
4 We have to buy the water we drink;
·we must pay for the firewood [L our wood comes with a price].
5 ·Those who chase after us want to catch us [L We are pursued] by the neck.
We are ·tired [exhausted] and find no rest.
6 We ·made an agreement with [L gave a hand to] Egypt
and with Assyria to get enough food [Is. 28:1—33:24; Jer. 2:35].
7 Our ·ancestors [fathers] sinned against you, but they are ·gone [L no more];
now we ·suffer because of their sins [L bear their iniquity].
8 ·Slaves [Servants] ·have become our rulers [L rule over us; Prov. 19:10; 30:21–22; Eccl. 10:5–7; Is. 24:2],
and no one can ·save us from them [L tear them off us].
9 We risk our lives to get our ·food [bread];
·we face death in the desert [L because of the sword in the wilderness; C fields were outside the walls of the city where the enemy camped].
10 Our skin is ·hot [or black] like an oven;
·we burn with [from the heat/fever of] ·starvation [famine].
11 ·The enemy [L They] ·abused [violated; raped] the women ·of Jerusalem [L in Zion; C the location of the Temple]
and the ·girls [L virgins] in the ·cities [towns] of Judah.
12 Princes were hung by the hands;
they did not respect our ·elders [or old men].
13 The young men ·ground grain at the mill [are forced to grind],
and boys stumbled under loads of wood.
14 The ·elders [or old men] ·no longer sit at the city [L have left the] gates [C the center of government and business];
the young men no longer sing.
15 ·We have no more joy in [L Joy has left] our hearts;
our dancing has turned to ·sadness [mourning].
16 The crown has fallen from our head.
·How terrible it is [L Woe to us] because we sinned.
17 Because of this ·we are afraid [L our hearts are sick],
and now our eyes ·are dim [grow dark; Ps. 69:23].
18 Mount Zion [C Jerusalem] is ·empty [desolate],
and ·wild dogs [jackals] wander around it [Jer. 9:11; 10:22].
19 But you ·rule [sit; C as king] forever, Lord.
·You will be King [L Your throne] ·from now on [L from generation to generation].
20 Why have you forgotten us for so long?
Have you ·left [abandoned; forsaken] us ·forever [L for length of days]?
21 Bring us back to you, Lord, and we will ·return [be restored].
·Make [L Renew] our days as they were before,
22 or have you completely rejected us?
Are you so angry with us?