Overview
Lamentations 5, unlike the previous chapters, does not follow an acrostic pattern, emphasizing its nature as a direct, urgent plea to God. The chapter recounts the harsh realities faced by the people in the aftermath of Jerusalem's fall, from the loss of their inheritance to the indignities and labor imposed by their conquerors. It speaks of the orphans and widows left behind, the elders who no longer sit at the gate, and the young who have given up their music, painting a picture of a society in complete disarray. The chapter also touches on the disgrace and subjugation they have endured, with a sense of shame over their sins and the consequences that have befallen them. Despite this, the plea in Lamentations 5 is for the Lord to remember and look upon their plight, highlighting a lingering hope for redemption and restoration. The lament acknowledges that, though they have strayed, God remains their eternal sovereign, and it ends with an urgent request for the Lord to restore them. This concluding chapter encapsulates the themes of Lamentations – the deep sorrow over Jerusalem's downfall, the acknowledgment of sin, and the yearning for God’s mercy and restoration. It represents a collective cry for renewal, a longing for the restoration of the relationship between God and His people, and the hope that, despite the severity of judgment, God’s compassion will ultimately prevail.
Lamentations 5
1 Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.
2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.
5 Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.
6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
8 Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.
9 We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.
13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
17 For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
19 Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.
20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?
21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.
End of Lamentations 5
1 Year Plan: Nov 2 - Lam 4, Lam 5, Eze 1, Jam 1
2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.
5 Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.
6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
8 Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.
9 We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.
13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
17 For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
19 Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.
20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?
21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.
End of Lamentations 5
1 Year Plan: Nov 2 - Lam 4, Lam 5, Eze 1, Jam 1
Got a Question or Comment?
