| NET Bible | New International Version |
| 1O LORD, reflect on what has happened to us; consider and look at our disgrace. | 1Remember, LORD, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. |
| 2Our inheritance is turned over to strangers; foreigners now occupy our homes. | 2Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. |
| 3We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers have become widows. | 3We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows. |
| 4We must pay money for our own water; we must buy our own wood at a steep price. | 4We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price. |
| 5We are pursued--they are breathing down our necks; we are weary and have no rest. | 5Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest. |
| 6We have submitted to Egypt and Assyria in order to buy food to eat. | 6We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. |
| 7Our forefathers sinned and are dead, but we suffer their punishment. | 7Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment. |
| 8Slaves rule over us; there is no one to rescue us from their power. | 8Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to free us from their hands. |
| 9At the risk of our lives we get our food because robbers lurk in the countryside. | 9We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert. |
| 10Our skin is hot as an oven due to a fever from hunger. | 10Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger. |
| 11They raped women in Zion, virgins in the towns of Judah. | 11Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah. |
| 12Princes were hung by their hands; elders were mistreated. | 12Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. |
| 13The young men perform menial labor; boys stagger from their labor. | 13Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. |
| 14The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped playing their music. | 14The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. |
| 15Our hearts no longer have any joy; our dancing is turned to mourning. | 15Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. |
| 16The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned! | 16The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! |
| 17Because of this, our hearts are sick; because of these things, we can hardly see through our tears. | 17Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim |
| 18For wild animals are prowling over Mount Zion, which lies desolate. | 18for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it. |
| 19But you, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. | 19You, LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. |
| 20Why do you keep on forgetting us? Why do you forsake us so long? | 20Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? |
| 21Bring us back to yourself, O LORD, so that we may return to you; renew our life as in days before, | 21Restore us to yourself, LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old |
| 22unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure. | 22unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure. |
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