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About this chapterThe final poem is a communal prayer. The people ask the Lord to remember, look and see their disgrace: their land is in foreign hands, they are orphans, slaves rule over them, and they pay for water and wood. They acknowledge that their ancestors sinned and that they bear the consequences, and the elders and young men have lost their place and their joy. Yet the prayer turns to God's throne, which lasts from generation to generation. The book ends unresolved: restore us, Lord, and we will return; renew our days as of old, unless you have utterly rejected us.

The final poem is a communal prayer. The people ask the Lord to remember, look and see their disgrace: their land is in foreign hands, they are orphans, slaves rule over them, and they pay for water and wood. They acknowledge that their ancestors sinned and that they bear the consequences, and the elders and young men have lost their place and their joy. Yet the prayer turns to God's throne, which lasts from generation to generation. The book ends unresolved: restore us, Lord, and we will return; renew our days as of old, unless you have utterly rejected us.

Themes

  • A community's prayer
  • Remember us
  • God reigns forever
  • Restore and renew

Key verses

Audio Bible · Lamentations 5

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Lamentations 5

Berean Standard Bible22 verses · 1 min read

1Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us. Look and see our disgrace! 2Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners. 3We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows. 4We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price. 5We are closely pursued; we are weary and find no rest. 6We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. 7Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment. 8Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hands. 9We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness. 10Our skin is as hot as an oven with fever from our hunger. 11Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah. 12Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders receive no respect. 13Young men toil at millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. 14The elders have left the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. 15Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. 16The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! 17Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim— 18because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes. 19You, O LORD, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation. 20Why have You forgotten us forever? Why have You forsaken us for so long? 21Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old, 22unless You have utterly rejected us and remain angry with us beyond measure.
Verses in Lamentations 5

Chapters of Lamentations

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