Revised Standard Version RSV
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; behold, and see our disgrace!
1
"Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us. Take a look at our disgrace!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to aliens.
2
"The land we inherited has been turned over to strangers. Our homes have been turned over to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows.
3
We are orphans without a father. Our mothers are like widows.
4 We must pay for the water we drink, the wood we get must be bought.
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We have to pay to drink our own water. We have to pay to chop our own wood.
5 With a yoke on our necks we are hard driven; we are weary, we are given no rest.
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[Our enemies] are breathing down our necks. We are worn out [and] not permitted to rest.
6 We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria, to get bread enough.
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We had to beg Egypt and Assyria for food.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more; and we bear their iniquities.
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Our ancestors sinned. Now they are gone, [but] we have to take the punishment for their wickedness.
8 Slaves rule over us; there is none to deliver us from their hand.
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Slaves rule us. There is no one to rescue us from them.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness.
9
To get our food, we have to risk our lives in the heat of the desert.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven with the burning heat of famine.
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Our skin is as hot as an oven from the burning heat of starvation.
11 Women are ravished in Zion, virgins in the towns of Judah.
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Women in Zion are raped, so are the girls in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes are hung up by their hands; no respect is shown to the elders.
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[Our] leaders are hung by their hands. [Our] older leaders are shown no respect.
13 Young men are compelled to grind at the mill; and boys stagger under loads of wood.
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[Our] young men work at the mill, and [our] boys stagger under loads of wood.
14 The old men have quit the city gate, the young men their music.
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[Our] older leaders have stopped meeting at the city gate, and [our] young men no longer play their music.
15 The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned to mourning.
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There is no joy left in our hearts. Our dancing has turned into mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!
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The crown has fallen from our head. Because we have sinned, it has been disastrous for us.
17 For this our heart has become sick, for these things our eyes have grown dim,
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This is why we feel sick. This is why our eyes see less and less.
18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate; jackals prowl over it.
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Foxes roam around on Mount Zion, which lies in ruins.
19 But thou, O LORD, dost reign for ever; thy throne endures to all generations.
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"But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever, and your reign continues throughout every generation.
20 Why dost thou forget us for ever, why dost thou so long forsake us?
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Why have you completely forgotten us? Why have you abandoned us for such a long time?
21 Restore us to thyself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old!
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O LORD, bring us back to you, and we'll come back. Give us back the life we had long ago,
22 Or hast thou utterly rejected us? Art thou exceedingly angry with us?
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unless you have completely rejected us [and] are very angry with us."
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.