1 - Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace.

2 - Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners.

3 - We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows.

4 - We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price.

5 - Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest.

6 - We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.

7 - Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.

8 - Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to free us from their hands.

9 - We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert.

10 - Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger.

11 - Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah.

12 - Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect.

13 - Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.

14 - The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.

15 - Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.

16 - The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

17 - Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim

18 - for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it.

19 - You, Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.

20 - Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long?

21 - Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old

22 - unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.