Lamentations 5: Turn Us Back to You
The survivors lay their reproach before the eternal God, confess their sin, and plead that he would turn their hearts and restore their days.
Lamentations 5 (WEB)
1 Remember, Yahweh, what has come on us: Look, and see 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 to us.
5 Our pursuers are on our necks: We are weary, and have no rest.
6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, To the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more; We have borne their iniquities.
8 Servants rule over us: There is no one to deliver us out of their hand.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives, Because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin is black like an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hanged up by their hand: The faces of elders were not honored.
13 The young men bare the mill; The children stumbled under the wood.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music.
15 The joy of our heart is ceased; Our dance is turned into mourning.
16 The crown is fallen from our head: Woe to us! for we have sinned.
17 For this our heart is faint; For these things our eyes are dim;
18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: The foxes walk on it.
19 You, Yahweh, remain forever; Your throne is from generation to generation.
20 Why do you forget us forever, And forsake us so long time?
21 Turn us to yourself, Yahweh, and we shall be turned. Renew our days as of old.
22 But you have utterly rejected us; You are very angry against us.
Lamentations 5 (KJV)
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.
Lamentations 5 (ASV)
1 Remember, O Jehovah, what is come upon us: Behold, and see our reproach.
2 Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, Our houses unto 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 pursuers are upon our necks: We are weary, 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 sinned, and are not; And we have borne their iniquities.
8 Servants rule over us: There is none to deliver us out of their hand.
9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives, Because of the sword of the wilderness.
10 Our skin is black like an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hanged up by their hand: The faces of elders were not honored.
13 The young men bare the mill; And the children stumbled under the wood.
14 The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music.
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! for we have sinned.
17 For this our heart is faint; For these things our eyes are dim;
18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: The foxes walk upon it.
19 Thou, O Jehovah, abidest for ever; Thy throne is from generation to generation.
20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, Andforsake us so long time?
21 Turn thou us unto thee, O Jehovah, and we shall be turned; Renew our days as of old.
22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; Thou art very wroth against us.
Summary
The final poem becomes a corporate prayer, the whole community crying out together: “Remember, Yahweh, what has come on us: Look, and see our reproach.” They lay before God a catalogue of their suffering—their inheritance handed to strangers, their homes given to foreigners, the people made orphans and widows, forced to buy their own water and wood. Their pursuers are on their necks; they are weary with no rest, and have begged bread from Egypt and Assyria to survive. They confess honestly that their fathers sinned and that they bear those iniquities, yet they also own their own guilt: “Woe to us! for we have sinned.” The joy has gone out of their hearts, their dancing turned to mourning, the crown fallen from their head, and Mount Zion lies so desolate that foxes prowl over it. Then the prayer lifts its eyes: “You, Yahweh, remain forever; your throne is from generation to generation.” On the basis of God's unchanging reign they make their central plea—“Turn us to yourself, Yahweh, and we shall be turned. Renew our days as of old”—knowing they cannot restore themselves. The book ends not with resolution but with a final, honest cry that acknowledges God's anger and longs for his mercy, leaving the people waiting on him.
Voices
- The grieving poet — Here joining his voice with the whole community in a corporate prayer that lays their reproach before God and begs for restoration.
- The people of God — The surviving community who recount their suffering, confess both their fathers' sins and their own, and plead together to be turned back to the Lord.
- Yahweh (the LORD) — The eternal God who reigns forever from generation to generation, to whom the people appeal as the only one who can turn their hearts and renew their days.
Key Verse
Lamentations 5:21 (WEB)
Turn us to yourself, Yahweh, and we shall be turned. Renew our days as of old.
Lessons Learned
- Suffering can be brought to God together as a community, not only carried alone.
- Honest confession owns both inherited sin and our own personal guilt.
- Our hope rests on the unchanging reign of the eternal God, even when everything around us has crumbled.
- True restoration is something only God can begin; we ask him to turn us before we can turn.
- We can pray our grief together. “Remember, Yahweh, what has come on us: Look, and see our reproach” (Lamentations 5:1, WEB). The community brings its shared suffering to God as one voice.
- Confession owns our own sin. “The crown is fallen from our head: Woe to us! for we have sinned” (Lamentations 5:16, WEB). The people do not merely blame their fathers but acknowledge their own guilt.
- God's reign is our unshakable ground. “You, Yahweh, remain forever; Your throne is from generation to generation” (Lamentations 5:19, WEB). When all else collapses, the eternal throne stands firm.
- Restoration begins with God turning us. “Turn us to yourself, Yahweh, and we shall be turned” (Lamentations 5:21, WEB). We cannot revive ourselves; we plead for God to draw us home first.
- How does this closing poem differ in form from the earlier chapters, and why might the book end with a corporate prayer?
- The people confess both their fathers' sins and their own (5:7, 5:16). How do these two confessions belong together?
- In the midst of ruin, the prayer declares “You, Yahweh, remain forever” (5:19). Why is God's unchanging reign such an important anchor here?
- The central plea is “Turn us to yourself, Yahweh, and we shall be turned” (5:21). What does it reveal that they ask God to turn them rather than promising to turn themselves?
- The book ends with longing rather than tidy resolution. How can it help us to bring God an honest, unfinished prayer when our own situations are unresolved?
- Unlike the earlier acrostic poems, this chapter is a direct, communal prayer addressed to God throughout. Ending the book this way turns all the preceding grief into petition, showing that lament is meant to lead us to cry out together to the Lord. Help the group see the value of praying our sorrows in community, not only privately.
- Acknowledging that their fathers sinned and that they bear those consequences (5:7), while also confessing “we have sinned” (5:16), keeps the people from either excusing themselves or denying inherited wrong. Both are true. Discuss how honest confession refuses to shift all blame elsewhere while still recognizing the weight we inherit.
- When inheritance, homes, joy, and even the temple mount are gone, the one thing that has not changed is that God still reigns (5:19). His eternal throne is the only stable ground left. Encourage the group to anchor their hope not in changing circumstances but in the changeless reign of God.
- Asking God to turn them confesses that they cannot restore themselves; the first move of repentance is itself a gift of grace (5:21). This humbles our self-reliance and casts us wholly on God. Point the group to the gospel, where God turns hearts to himself by his Spirit through Christ.
- Ending in longing rather than resolution honors the reality that not every grief is quickly mended; some prayers must remain open before God. This frees us to bring him our unresolved situations without pretending. As leader, reassure the group that an honest, waiting prayer is faith, and point to Christ, in whom God's final answer of mercy has come.