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A Prayer for Mercy

¹ Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us;
Look, and see our ^(C1)reproach!

² Our inheritance has been turned over to ^(C1)strangers,
Our ^(C2)houses to aliens.

³ We have become orphans ^(C1)without a father,
Our mothers are like widows.

^4 (F1)We have to pay for our drinking ^(C1)water,
Our wood comes to us at a price.

^5 (F1)Our pursuers are at our necks;
We are worn out, there is ^(C1)no rest for us.

⁶ We have ^(F1)submitted to ^(C1)Egypt and Assyria ^(F2)to get enough bread.

⁷ Our ^(C1)fathers sinned, and are no more;
It is we who have borne their iniquities.

^8 (C1)Slaves rule over us;
There is ^(C2)no one to deliver us from their hand.

⁹ We get our bread ^(F1)at the ^(C1)risk of our lives
^(F2)Because of the sword in the wilderness.

¹⁰ Our skin has become as ^(C1)hot as an oven,
Because of ^(F1)the burning heat of famine.

¹¹ They ravished the ^(C1)women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.

¹² Princes were hung by their hands;
^(F1)(C1)Elders were not respected.

¹³ Young men ^(F1)(C1)worked at the grinding mill,
And youths ^(C2)stumbled under loads of wood.

¹⁴ Elders ^(F1)are gone from the gate,
Young men from their ^(C1)music.

¹⁵ The joy of our hearts has ^(C1)ceased;
Our dancing has been turned into mourning.

¹⁶ The ^(C1)crown has fallen from our head;
^(C2)Woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷ Because of this our ^(C1)heart is faint,
Because of these things our ^(C2)eyes are dim;

¹⁸ Because of ^(C1)Mount Zion which lies desolate,
^(C2)Foxes prowl in it.

^19 (C1)You, O LORD, ^(F1)rule forever;
Your ^(C2)throne is from generation to generation.

²⁰ Why do You ^(C1)forget us forever?
Why do You forsake us ^(F1)so long?

^21 (C1)Restore us to You, O LORD, that we may be restored;
Renew ^(C2)our days as of old,

²² Unless ^(C1)You have utterly rejected us
And are exceedingly ^(C2)angry with us.