¹Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; Look, and see our reproach! ²Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, Our houses to aliens. ³We have become orphans without a father, Our mothers are like widows. ⁴We have to pay for our drinking water, Our wood comes to us at a price. ⁵Our pursuers are at our necks; We are worn out, there is no rest for us. ⁶We have submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. ⁷Our fathers sinned, and are no more; It is we who have borne their iniquities. ⁸Slaves rule over us; There is no one to deliver us from their hand. ⁹We get our bread at the risk of our lives Because of the sword in the wilderness. ¹⁰Our skin has become as hot as an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine. ¹¹They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah. ¹²Princes were hung by their hands; Elders were not respected. ¹³Young men worked at the grinding mill, And youths stumbled under loads of wood. ¹⁴Elders are gone from the gate, Young men from their music. ¹⁵The joy of our hearts has ceased; Our dancing has been turned into mourning. ¹⁶The crown has fallen from our head; Woe to us, for we have sinned! ¹⁷Because of this our heart is faint, Because of these things our eyes are dim; ¹⁸Because of Mount Zion which lies desolate, Foxes prowl in it. ¹⁹You, O LORD, rule forever; Your throne is from generation to generation. ²⁰Why do You forget us forever? Why do You forsake us so long? ²¹Restore us to You, O LORD, that we may be restored; Renew our days as of old, ²²Unless You have utterly rejected us And are exceedingly angry with us.

Princes were hung by their hands; Elders were not respected. Young men worked at the grinding mill, And youths stumbled under loads of wood. Elders are gone from the gate, Young men from their music.