Lamentations 5
5
A Prayer for Mercy and Restoration
1 # 5:1 Unlike chs. 1–4, ch. 5 is not an alphabetical acrostic. Yahweh, remember all that we’ve endured;
look and see our disgrace.
2Our inheritance # 5:2 That is, their ancestral land and the temple. See Ps. 79:1. has passed to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
3We have no fathers; we are orphans,
and our mothers are widows.
4We have to pay for drinking water,
and our firewood comes at a steep price.
5Our pursuers are breathing down our necks;
we are exhausted and allowed no rest.
6We made a pact with Egypt and Assyria
just to have enough food to eat.
7Our ancestors sinned, and they are no more;
and now we suffer their punishment. # 5:7 One must constantly be vigilant to keep from moral and ethical entropy. God’s covenant was what held the nation together. Ignore that and everything begins to unravel. Every society needs a well-maintained organizing principle in order to thrive. Dysfunction (as well as blessing) can be passed down and amplified through the generations.
8Slaves rule over us; # 5:8 See Prov. 30:21–22.
there is no one to rescue us from them.
9We risk our lives to earn our bread
because of armed gangs in the wilderness.
10Our skin is scorched
from the heat of famine.
11Our enemies violated Zion’s women
and young girls in the towns of Judah.
12Our leaders have been taken and hanged;
our elders have received no respect.
13Young men are forced into menial labor, # 5:13 Or “Young men grind at the mill.” Grinding grain was often the work of animals, prisoners, or servants and slaves.
boys stagger under loads of wood.
14The elders no longer give their advice; # 5:14 Or “have deserted the city gate.” It was at the city gates where the elders would render their decisions and give counsel to the people of the city. See Ruth 4:1; Est. 2:21.
the young no longer make music.
15Joy has vanished from our hearts;
our dancing has turned to mourning.
16Our joyful celebrations are over. # 5:16 Or “The crown [festive garland] has fallen from our head.” This is possibly a metaphor for saying something like, “The joyous festivities are gone.” However, it may express realization of the end of the Davidic kingship and the collapse of the monarchy.
We have sinned, and we are doomed!
17For this is why our hearts are sick
and our eyes are veiled with tears,
18because Mount Zion lies desolate
with jackals roaming over it.
19Yet you, Yahweh, reign forever!
Your throne endures from age to age.
20Have you forgotten us forever?
Why have you abandoned us for so long?
21Draw us back to yourself, Yahweh; let us come back to you!
Restore us as we were before.
22Have you utterly rejected us?
Is there no limit to your anger? # 5:22 Or “Unless you have utterly rejected us in an anger that has no limit.”
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Lamentations 5: TPT
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