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5:1  Remember, Lord, what happened to us [C a call to God for help and revenge]. Look and see our ·disgrace [scorn].
5:2  Our ·land [L inheritance] has been turned over to strangers; our houses have been given to foreigners.
5:3  We are like orphans with no father; our mothers are like widows [C defenseless and vulnerable].
5:4  We have to buy the water we drink; ·we must pay for the firewood [L our wood comes with a price].
5:5  ·Those who chase after us want to catch us [L We are pursued] by the neck. We are ·tired [exhausted] and find no rest.
5:6  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].
5:7  Our ·ancestors [fathers] sinned against you, but they are ·gone [L no more]; now we ·suffer because of their sins [L bear their iniquity].
5:8  ·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].
5:9  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].
5:10  Our skin is ·hot [or black] like an oven; ·we burn with [from the heat/fever of] ·starvation [famine].
5:11  ·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.
5:12  Princes were hung by the hands; they did not respect our ·elders [or old men].
5:13  The young men ·ground grain at the mill [are forced to grind], and boys stumbled under loads of wood.
5:14  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.
5:15  ·We have no more joy in [L Joy has left] our hearts; our dancing has turned to ·sadness [mourning].
5:16  The crown has fallen from our head. ·How terrible it is [L Woe to us] because we sinned.
5:17  Because of this ·we are afraid [L our hearts are sick], and now our eyes ·are dim [grow dark; Ps. 69:23].
5:18  Mount Zion [C Jerusalem] is ·empty [desolate], and ·wild dogs [jackals] wander around it [Jer. 9:11; 10:22].
5:19  But you ·rule [sit; C as king] forever, Lord. ·You will be King [L Your throne] ·from now on [L from generation to generation].
5:20  Why have you forgotten us for so long? Have you ·left [abandoned; forsaken] us ·forever [L for length of days]?
5:21  Bring us back to you, Lord, and we will ·return [be restored]. ·Make [L Renew] our days as they were before,
5:22  or have you completely rejected us? Are you so angry with us?