Lamentations 5:1

• In any kind of trouble, it is always right to pray. See James 5:13.

• There is a right way to receive what God sends. See Nehemiah 9:32-37.

• God loves us even when we have *sinned. So, when we suffer, God suffers with us. It is good to know that. See Isaiah 63:9.

v2 Strangers now occupy the land that our fathers handed on to us. Foreigners are living in our homes.

Verse 2 The writer is talking about Canaan, the country that the *Lord promised to his people (Deuteronomy 26:1).

v3 We have become like *orphans. Our fathers have gone and our mothers are like widows.

v4 We must pay money for the water that we drink. We have to buy our own wood for fuel.

v5 Our enemies make us work like animals. But the work is too heavy and we have no rest.

v6 We held out our hand to the *Egyptians and to the *Assyrians for food.

Verse 4 *Israel’s people used to have more than enough water. They also used to have enough wood. But they have not obeyed God. So that has changed.

Verse 6 The people find that their friends in *Egypt and *Assyria cannot help.

v7 Our fathers *sinned. They are dead. But we have had the punishment that they deserved.

Verse 7 This does not mean that the present people had not *sinned against God. See verse 16.

v8 The men who rule us now are not better than slaves. But there is nobody to free us from their power.

v9 To bring home our bread, we risk our lives because our enemies are all round us.

Verse 9 In the Bible, ‘bread’ often means any kind of food. ‘Bread’ here probably includes any kind of food that the people could find anywhere.

v10 We are so ill from hunger that our skin is as hot as an oven.

v11 Enemies forced the women and *virgins to have sex with them. This happened in *Jerusalem and in all the other cities in *Judah.

v12 They have hanged our leaders. They do not respect the old men.

v13 They took the young men to make flour out of the corn. The children fell under heavy loads of wood that they could not carry.

Verse 13 The young men felt foolish because the work at the mill was women’s work. Children also had to do the work of slaves.

v14 The old men have stopped sitting at the city’s gate. The young men have stopped their music.

Verse 14 Old men used to meet together at the city’s gate to talk. It was the custom. See Genesis 34:20; Deuteronomy 21:19-20; Ruth 4:1.

v15 We are not happy any longer. We do not dance now. We are too sad.

v16 We do not have a crown any more. We *sinned against God. So now we have a hopeless future.

Verse 16 Not only have their king and his crown gone. These people will have no more kings.

v17 Because of this, our hearts (minds) are sick. We can hardly see because of our tears.

v18 Enemies have knocked down the walls of *Zion. Now foxes walk over the stones.

v19 But you, *Lord, are king for ever. You will always rule your people.

Verse 19 The writer now begins to praise the *Lord.

The people of God have bad times like everybody else in the world. But God loves his people. He has promised that everything will work together for our good. See Romans 8:28; Hebrews 13:5.

v20 Why have you left us, God? Will you ever remember us again?

Verse 20 The writer again remembers the present sad situation. He cannot understand why God continues to let the people suffer.

v21 Bring us back to you, *Lord. We want to make a new start with you.

v22 You seem to have left us for ever. You have been very angry with us. We do not know whether your anger will ever end.

Lord ~ a special name for God that his people use. He will do what he has promised them. That is what this name means.
sin ~ to do things against God and other people; an bad action that we do against God and other people.
orphan ~ a person who has no mother or father.
Egyptian ~ a person from Egypt.
Egypt ~ a country in Africa, south of Judah. The people there sometimes liked God’s people and sometimes they did not.
Judah ~ a part of the country that God gave to his people.
Assyrian ~ a person from Assyria.
Assyria ~ a country, east of Judah. The people there (Assyrians) did not like God’s people.
Judah ~ a part of the country that God gave to his people.
Israel ~ Israel is the group of people that God chose to be his people.
Egypt ~ a country in Africa, south of Judah. The people there sometimes liked God’s people and sometimes they did not.
Judah ~ a part of the country that God gave to his people.
Assyria ~ a country, east of Judah. The people there (Assyrians) did not like God’s people.
Judah ~ a part of the country that God gave to his people.
virgin ~ a woman who has never had sex with a man.
Jerusalem ~ the Jews’ capital city; God told King Solomon to build God’s sacred temple there.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
temple ~ the sacred house in Jerusalem where Israel’s people went to pray.
Israel ~ Israel is the group of people that God chose to be his people.
Judah ~ a part of the country that God gave to his people.
Zion ~ the holy hill in Jerusalem where God’s temple was.
Jerusalem ~ the Jews’ capital city; God told King Solomon to build God’s sacred temple there.
temple ~ the sacred house in Jerusalem where Israel’s people went to pray.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
Israel ~ Israel is the group of people that God chose to be his people.