1Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us; consider, and see our disgrace. 2Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to aliens. 3We are fatherless; our mothers are like widows. 4We must buy water to drink; our wood is sold to us. 5Our pursuers are on our heels; we work without rest. 6We have submitted to the Egyptians and Assyrians, just to get enough food to survive. 7Our forefathers have sinned, and are gone; and we bear their punishment. 8Slaves rule over us; there is no one that frees us from them. 9We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. 10Our skin is black and hot like an oven because of the terrible famine. 11They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. 12Princes have been hung up by their hands; the elders are not shown respect. 13They took the young men to toil at the grindstone, and the children stagger under loads of wood. 14The elders have left the city gates; the young men have stopped making music. 15The joy of our heart is gone; our dancing is now mourning. 16The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!

17Our heart is faint because of all this; and our eyes grow dim. 18Because Jerusalem and Mount Zion are desolate, jackals prowl about them. 19You, O LORD, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation. 20Why do You forget us, and forsake us for so long? 21Restore us to You, O LORD, and we may return; renew our days as of old, 22Unless You have utterly rejected us, and You are very angry with us beyond measure.