The big picture
Lamentations 5 opens in verse 1 with “Remember, O LORD , what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.”, reaches its middle movement near verse 11 with “They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.”, and closes in verse 22 with “But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.” Repeated or prominent terms include hand, LORD, turned, bread, ceased. Together, those details trace this chapter’s own movement from its opening to its conclusion.
Scripture beside the summary
Lamentations · King James Version · 22Lamentations 5:1-8
1–8: Remember, O LORD , what is come upon us: consider, and behold our…
Lamentations 5:1–8 opens with “Remember, O LORD , what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.” and reaches “Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on Survivors gathered in prayer, naming their losses and asking the Lord to turn and restore them, with particular weight carried by hand, aliens, Assyrians.
Deep dive
The movement opens with “Remember, O LORD , what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.” By verse 4, the text has turned to “We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.” It lands on “Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.” The distance between those lines matters as much as any isolated phrase. Its subjects, actions, connecting terms, and consequences reveal how the thought develops before any interpretation is added.
Accusation, warning, invitation to return, judgment, and hope each do different work. The prophet’s first audience anchors later questions about fulfillment. Words such as hand, aliens, Assyrians, borne, bread, consider tie the complete block together. The central idea, “Survivors gathered in prayer, naming their losses and asking the Lord to turn and restore them,” should remain answerable to the text. Some conclusions are explicit, some gather support across several verses, and others remain strong inferences or interpretations.
Names or load-bearing terms in this scene include Our, Assyrians, Egyptians, Remember, Servants. The nearest hinge to the center comes in verse 4: “We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.” That detail helps separate the opening situation from what the passage changes next.
Words to trace: hand, aliens, Assyrians, borne, bread, consider
Verse-by-verse path
- Lamentations 5:1
“Remember, O LORD , what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.” Naming Remember keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
- Lamentations 5:2
“Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.” Naming Our keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
- Lamentations 5:3
“We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.” The line’s distinctive content terms include fatherless, mothers, orphans. Its relationship to verses 2 and 4 shows what work it does in this passage.
- Lamentations 5:4
“We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.” The line’s distinctive content terms include drunken, money, sold. Its relationship to verses 3 and 5 shows what work it does in this passage.
- Lamentations 5:5
“Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.” Naming Our keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
- Lamentations 5:6
“We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.” Naming Assyrians and Egyptians keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
- Lamentations 5:7
“Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.” Naming Our keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
- Lamentations 5:8
“Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.” Naming Servants keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
Lamentations 5:1-8
King James Version1Remember, O LORD , what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.
2Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
3We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
4We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.
5Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.
6We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
8Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.
Lamentations 5:9-16
9–16: We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the…
Lamentations 5:9–16 opens with “We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.” and reaches “The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on Survivors gathered in prayer, naming their losses and asking the Lord to turn and restore them, with particular weight carried by ceased, elders, young.
Deep dive
The movement opens with “We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.” By verse 12, the text has turned to “Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.” It lands on “The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!” The distance between those lines matters as much as any isolated phrase. Its subjects, actions, connecting terms, and consequences reveal how the thought develops before any interpretation is added.
Accusation, warning, invitation to return, judgment, and hope each do different work. The prophet’s first audience anchors later questions about fulfillment. Words such as ceased, elders, young, black, bread, children tie the complete block together. The central idea, “Survivors gathered in prayer, naming their losses and asking the Lord to turn and restore them,” should remain answerable to the text. Some conclusions are explicit, some gather support across several verses, and others remain strong inferences or interpretations.
Names or load-bearing terms in this scene include Judah, Our, Princes, Zion. The nearest hinge to the center comes in verse 12: “Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.” That detail helps separate the opening situation from what the passage changes next.
Words to trace: ceased, elders, young, black, bread, children
Verse-by-verse path
- Lamentations 5:9
“We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.” The line’s distinctive content terms include bread, lives, peril. Its relationship to verses 10 shows what work it does in this passage.
- Lamentations 5:10
“Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.” Naming Our keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
- Lamentations 5:11
“They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.” Naming Judah and Zion keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
- Lamentations 5:12
“Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.” Naming Princes keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
- Lamentations 5:13
“They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.” The line’s distinctive content terms include children, fell, grind. Its relationship to verses 12 and 14 shows what work it does in this passage.
- Lamentations 5:14
“The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick.” The line’s distinctive content terms include ceased, elders, gate. Its relationship to verses 13 and 15 shows what work it does in this passage.
- Lamentations 5:15
“The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.” The line’s distinctive content terms include ceased, dance, heart. Its relationship to verses 14 and 16 shows what work it does in this passage.
- Lamentations 5:16
“The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!” The line’s distinctive content terms include crown, fallen, head. Its relationship to verses 15 shows what work it does in this passage.
Lamentations 5:9-16
King James Version9We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
10Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
11They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.
12Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.
13They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
14The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick.
15The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
16The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
Lamentations 5:17-22
17–22: For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
Lamentations 5:17–22 opens with “For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.” and reaches “But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on Survivors gathered in prayer, naming their losses and asking the Lord to turn and restore them, with particular weight carried by generation, LORD, days.
Deep dive
The movement opens with “For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.” By verse 19, the text has turned to “Thou, O LORD , remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.” It lands on “But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.” The distance between those lines matters as much as any isolated phrase. The passage has a voice and pulse of its own, including 1 question, 1 stated contrast. Those features reveal where the narrative slows down, speaks directly, or changes direction.
Accusation, warning, invitation to return, judgment, and hope each do different work. The prophet’s first audience anchors later questions about fulfillment. Words such as generation, LORD, days, desolate, dost, eyes tie the complete block together. The central idea, “Survivors gathered in prayer, naming their losses and asking the Lord to turn and restore them,” should remain answerable to the text. Some conclusions are explicit, some gather support across several verses, and others remain strong inferences or interpretations.
Names or load-bearing terms in this scene include Because, Thou, Turn, Wherefore, Zion. The nearest hinge to the center comes in verse 20: “Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?” That detail helps separate the opening situation from what the passage changes next.
Words to trace: generation, LORD, days, desolate, dost, eyes
Verse-by-verse path
- Lamentations 5:17
“For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.” This line supplies a reason, result, or conclusion. It should stay attached to the claim or action that gives it meaning.
- Lamentations 5:18
“Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.” This line supplies a reason, result, or conclusion. It should stay attached to the claim or action that gives it meaning.
- Lamentations 5:19
“Thou, O LORD , remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.” Naming Thou keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
- Lamentations 5:20
“Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?” The question slows the passage down. Notice who is being pressed to answer, what the question assumes, and whether the next lines provide a response.
- Lamentations 5:21
“Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD , and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.” The command cannot be understood from the verb alone. Its recipient, purpose, and place in the larger covenant or argument define the responsibility.
- Lamentations 5:22
“But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.” The line’s distinctive content terms include rejected, utterly, wroth. Its relationship to verses 21 shows what work it does in this passage.
Lamentations 5:17-22
King James Version17For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
18Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
19Thou, O LORD , remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.
20Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?
21Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD , and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
22But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.
Questions to keep in mind while reading
- Identify the historical crisis, covenant failure, warning, and promised hope.
- Distinguish the prophet’s immediate audience from later biblical connections.
- Do not turn present-day headlines into confident fulfillment claims without textual evidence.
Text first
Where readers differ
The chapter summary begins with what the passage says and how its parts fit together. It does not assume one denomination has already settled every question. Where a conclusion depends on a tradition, literary theory, or historical reconstruction, that dependence is named openly.
The KJV text is presented first. Interpretive conclusions are labeled, and differences are introduced only when they help a reader understand why serious communities do not always reach the same answer.
Comparative interpretive notes for this chapter are in preparation. Until reviewed notes are ready, this page separates the KJV text from summary and application without claiming that serious readers agree on every question.
Questions beneath the surface
- What account of God, human freedom, responsibility, and the good life emerges from Lamentations 5?
- Which tension does the chapter refuse to resolve quickly?
- What changes when the chapter is read as part of the whole canon rather than as an isolated moral story?
- Where might a sincere reader confuse a familiar tradition with something the text states directly?
Questions for serious personal contemplation
These open-ended questions make room for tension, honest response, prayer, and conclusions that remain accountable to the chapter.
Observe without rushing
What part of Lamentations 5 makes you stop, feel unsettled, or feel surprised, and why?
Which detail in the passage would be easiest to overlook? How does that detail change your understanding?
Where do you see tension between what happens and this focus: Survivors gathered in prayer, naming their losses and asking the Lord to turn and restore them?
What important question does the passage leave open instead of resolving quickly?
Examine your inner life honestly
Which person, response, fear, or desire in the passage feels most like your own life right now?
What assumption about God, other people, or yourself does this text challenge?
Which part would you rather soften, avoid, or explain away too quickly? What might that reaction reveal?
If this Scripture could ask you one direct question, what do you think it would ask?
Respond with wisdom and courage
What do you need to remember, confess, grieve, thank God for, or trust after reading this passage?
How might another faithful person read this situation differently without ignoring the text?
What obedient response would be costly, uncomfortable, or slow, yet still faithful to Scripture?
What question will you carry into prayer this week, and which verses will you keep in front of you?