5
Lord, think about what has happened to us. Look at the shame our enemies have brought on us.
2 The land you gave us has been turned over to outsiders.
Our homes have been given to strangers.
3 Our fathers have been killed.
Our mothers don't have husbands.
4 We have to buy the water we drink.
We have to pay for the wood we use.
5 Those who chase us are right behind us.
We're tired and can't get any rest.
6 We put ourselves under the control of Egypt and Assyria
just to get enough bread.
7 Our people of long ago sinned.
And they are now dead.
We are being punished because of their sins.
8 Slaves rule over us.
No one can set us free
from their power.
9 We put our lives in danger just to get some bread to eat.
Robbers in the desert might kill us with their swords.
10 Our skin is as hot as an oven.
We are so hungry we're burning up with fever.
11 Our women have been treated badly in Zion.
Our virgins have been treated badly in the towns of Judah.
12 Our princes have been hung up by their hands.
No one shows our elders any respect.
13 Our young men are forced to grind corn at the mill.
Our boys almost fall down
as they carry heavy loads of wood.
14 Our elders don't go to the city gate anymore.
Our young men have stopped playing their music.
15 There isn't any joy in our hearts.
Our dancing has turned into mourning.
16 All of our honour is gone.
How terrible it is for us because we have sinned!
17 So our hearts are weak.
Our eyes can't see very clearly.
18 Mount Zion has been deserted.
Wild dogs are prowling all around on it.
19 Lord, you rule for ever.
Your throne will last for all time to come.
20 Why do you always forget us?
Why have you deserted us for so long?
21 Lord, please bring us back to you.
Then we can return.
Make our lives like new again.
22 Or have you completely turned away from us?
Are you really that angry with us?
3:1–5:22 Chapters 3 and 4 are also alphabet poems. They continue talking about the terrible things that had happened in Jerusalem. They continue talking about the pain and anger of the people of the southern kingdom. Yet there are words of hope in the middle of chapter 3. This is the centre of the book. God didn't completely destroy his people. This was a sign that he was still committed to them. God had promised to forgive his people if they repented and turned away from their sin. He had promised this in the Mount Sinai covenant. So the speaker invited God's people to pray to God and return to him. They could do this because they trusted that God is good. They trusted that he loved them. They believed that God was concerned about them and was faithful to them. After these words of hope, the poems continue talking about sad things. The people were suffering as a result of their sin. In this way their suffering was different from Job's suffering. But the people described God in ways that Job described him. Like Job, they described God as a lion waiting to attack them. They felt like God was shooting arrows at them. These were pictures that showed how confused the people felt. God's people were completely shocked by God. It seemed that God had turned against them. They understood that they had sinned. But they couldn't understand why God allowed them to suffer so terribly. The way that chapter 5 is written shows how confused they felt. This poem doesn't follow the order of the alphabet like the other poems in Lamentations do. At the end of chapter 5 the people recognised something important. They needed God to take action to help them. They needed him to bring them back to him. Only then could they return to him like chapter 3 talked about. Yet the people didn't feel any hope or trust. They wondered if God's anger was so complete that he had deserted them for ever.