Good News Translation GNT
New International Version NIV
1 Remember, O Lord, what has happened to us. Look at us, and see our disgrace.
1
Remember, LORD, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace.
2 Our property is in the hands of strangers; foreigners are living in our homes.
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Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners.
3 Our fathers have been killed by the enemy, and now our mothers are widows.
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We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows.
4 We must pay for the water we drink; we must buy the wood we need for fuel.
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We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price.
5 Driven hard like donkeys or camels, we are tired, but are allowed no rest.
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Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest.
6 To get food enough to stay alive, we went begging to Egypt and Assyria.
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We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
7 Our ancestors sinned, but now they are gone, and we are suffering for their sins.
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Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.
8 Our rulers are no better than slaves, and no one can save us from their power.
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Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to free us from their hands.
9 Murderers roam through the countryside; we risk our lives when we look for food.
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We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert.
10 Hunger has made us burn with fever until our skin is as hot as an oven.
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Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger.
11 Our wives have been raped on Mount Zion itself; in every Judean village our daughters have been forced to submit.
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Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah.
12 Our leaders have been taken and hanged; our elders are shown no respect.
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Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect.
13 Our young men are forced to grind grain like slaves; boys go staggering under heavy loads of wood.
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Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The old people no longer sit at the city gate, and the young people no longer make music.
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The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
15 Happiness has gone out of our lives; grief has taken the place of our dances.
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Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
16 Nothing is left of all we were proud of. We sinned, and now we are doomed.
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The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 We are sick at our very hearts and can hardly see through our tears,
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Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim
18 because Mount Zion lies lonely and deserted, and wild jackals prowl through its ruins.
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for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it.
19 But you, O Lord, are king forever and will rule to the end of time.
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You, LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.
20 Why have you abandoned us so long? Will you ever remember us again?
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Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long?
21 Bring us back to you, Lord! Bring us back! Restore our ancient glory.
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Restore us to yourself, LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old
22 Or have you rejected us forever? Is there no limit to your anger?
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unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.