Read the Bible

¹ Remember, O LORD, what has come upon us; Look, and behold our reproach! ² Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, And our houses to foreigners. ³ We have become orphans and waifs, Our mothers are like widows. ⁴ We pay for the water we drink, And our wood comes at a price. ⁵ They pursue at our heels; [fn] We labor and have no rest. ⁶ We have given our hand to the Egyptians And the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. ⁷ Our fathers sinned and are no more, But we bear their iniquities. ⁸ Servants rule over us; There is none to deliver us from their hand. ⁹ We get our bread at the risk of our lives, Because of the sword in the wilderness. ¹⁰ Our skin is hot as an oven, Because of the fever of famine. ¹¹ They ravished the women in Zion, The maidens in the cities of Judah. ¹² Princes were hung up by their hands, And elders were not respected. ¹³ Young men ground at the millstones; Boys staggered under loads of wood. ¹⁴ The elders have ceased gathering at the gate, And the young men from their music. ¹⁵ The joy of our heart has ceased; Our dance has turned into mourning. ¹⁶ The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!

¹⁷ Because of this our heart is faint; Because of these things our eyes grow dim; ¹⁸ Because of Mount Zion which is desolate, With foxes walking about on it. ¹⁹ You, O LORD, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation. ²⁰ Why do You forget us forever, And forsake us for so long a time? ²¹ Turn us back to You, O LORD, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old, ²² Unless You have utterly rejected us, And are very angry with us!