Lamentations
Chapter 5
Remember, Lord, what has befallen us. Look, and see our disgrace,
our home handed over to strangers, our inheritance to foreigners.
We are as orphans, fatherless, and early widowed are our mothers.
Our drinking water we must buy; for our own wood we have to pay.
With the yoke stifling our breath, without rest we work to death.
We have bowed down to Egypt, and to Assyria, just to subsist.
Our ancestors who sinned are no more but we bear their guilt.
Slaves rule us, and there is no one to rescue us from their hands.
We brave the desert heat and the sword just to get our hard-earned food.
Our skin is hot like a furnace, dried up and shriveled by hunger.
Ravished are the wives in Zion, the virgins in the towns of Judah.
Princes are hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect.
Young men toil at the millstones, boys stagger under heavy loads.
The old have shunned the city gate, the young, their music.
From our hearts joy is gone; We danced then, but now we lament.
The garlands have fallen from our heads. Woe upon us, for we have sinned!
Over all this our hearts are sick; and our eyes have grown weak:
for we see Mount Zion desolate; the jackals prowl within.
You, O Lord, forever reign; your throne endures from age to age.
Why, then, should you abandon us, Why forget us for so long a time?
Lead us to you again, O Lord, that we may be restored; renew our days as of old.
Have you utterly rejected us? Is there no end to your wrath against us?
Commentaries
Fifth Lament.
The fifth and final lamentation is the most distinctive compared to the previous ones. Some scholars believe it reflects the situation Israel faced after the Babylonian invasion (587 BC), suggesting it occurred later than the others—some old Bibles label it “Jeremiah’s Prayer.”
This is a typical example of the literary genre called “prayer”—such as Psalms 44, 60, 74, 79, 80, and 83—with its usual features: the use of “we,” a description of disaster, and an invocation of God. It can be divided into three parts: the situation of the survivors (1-18), a confident prayer to God (19-21), and a final lament (22).
What should we do when suffering and misfortune come our way? Instead of reacting spontaneously by blaming God and turning away from Him in resentment and disillusionment, this lament guides us toward another response: prayer and supplication. It is a time to uncover the mysterious meaning of pain and to see the face of the true God, who can transform our despair into a journey of solidarity and hope.