The Bible in Basic English BBE
New International Version NIV
1 Keep in mind, O Lord, what has come to us: take note and see our shame.
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Remember, LORD, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace.
2 Our heritage is given up to men of strange lands, our houses to those who are not our countrymen.
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Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners.
3 We are children without fathers, our mothers are like widows.
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We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows.
4 We give money for a drink of water, we get our wood for a price.
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We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price.
5 Our attackers are on our necks: overcome with weariness, we have no rest.
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Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest.
6 We have given our hands to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians so that we might have enough bread.
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We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
7 Our fathers were sinners and are dead; and the weight of their evil-doing is on us.
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Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.
8 Servants are ruling over us, and there is no one to make us free from their hands.
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Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to free us from their hands.
9 We put our lives in danger to get our bread, because of the sword of the waste land.
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We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert.
10 Our skin is heated like an oven because of our burning heat from need of food.
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Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger.
11 They took by force the women in Zion, the virgins in the towns of Judah.
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Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah.
12 Their hands put princes to death by hanging: the faces of old men were not honoured.
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Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect.
13 The young men were crushing the grain, and the boys were falling under the wood.
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Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The old men are no longer seated in the doorway, and the music of the young men has come to an end.
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The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
15 The joy of our hearts is ended; our dancing is changed into sorrow.
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Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
16 The crown has been taken from our head: sorrow is ours, for we are sinners.
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The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our hearts are feeble; for these things our eyes are dark;
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Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim
18 Because of the mountain of Zion which is a waste; jackals go over it.
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for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it.
19 You, O Lord, are seated as King for ever; the seat of your power is eternal.
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You, LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.
20 Why have we gone from your memory for ever? why have you been turned away from us for so long?
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Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long?
21 Make us come back to you, O Lord, and let us be turned; make our days new again as in the past.
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Restore us to yourself, LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old
22 But you have quite given us up; you are full of wrath against us.
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unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
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.