FocusRemember and restore
Connection to the wholeThe closing communal prayer brings the people's condition before the LORD and asks for restoration without supplying a simple narrative resolution.
interpretation Lamentations 5:22
KJVBut thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.
Read it in context
A Prayer for Restoration
Start reading at Lamentations 5:1 (Lamentations 5:1 to Lamentations 5:22).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
The closing communal prayer brings the people's condition before the LORD and asks for restoration without supplying a simple narrative resolution.
- 5:1 Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.
- 5:2 Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
- 5:3 We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.
- 5:4 We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.
- 5:5 Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.
- 5:6 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
- 5:7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
- 5:8 Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.
- 5:9 We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
- 5:10 Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.
- 5:11 They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah.
- 5:12 Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.
- 5:13 They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.
- 5:14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick.
- 5:15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.
- 5:16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
- 5:17 For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim.
- 5:18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.
- 5:19 Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.
- 5:20 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?
- 5:21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
- 5:22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.
Who
- Who wrote the book? Jeremiah is the traditional author. The poems themselves do not identify their writer, so the personal attribution remains uncertain. Historical source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b–15a (record of Jewish attribution, not contemporary proof). traditionally held
- Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Lamentations 5:1–5:22): The afflicted community addresses the LORD directly in a prayer for remembrance and restoration. stated in the text
- Who was the book written to? The devastated people of Judah and Jerusalem mourning the city's destruction, and the community preserving that lament and appeal to God. Biblical references: Lamentations 1:1; Lamentations 2:10; Lamentations 5:1. book background
What
- What is the topic of this reading unit? A Prayer for Restoration. Read Lamentations 5:1 through Lamentations 5:22 as a connected unit. interpretation
- How does it contribute to the book? The closing communal prayer brings the people's condition before the LORD and asks for restoration without supplying a simple narrative resolution. interpretation
When
- When are the events or message set? The poems concern Jerusalem's devastation and its aftermath. They do not supply a composition date or name their author within the text. book background
Where
- What is the book’s geographic setting? Jerusalem's ruined condition and the people's suffering form the setting, while individual and communal voices describe that distress. book background
- Where does the context start? This passage sits in A Prayer for Restoration (Lamentations 5:1 to Lamentations 5:22). Start reading at Lamentations 5:1. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
- How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? The lament over Jerusalem can be compared with Jesus' lament for the city. The comparison joins grief and accountability without making every speaker in Lamentations a direct prophetic portrait of Jesus. See Lamentations 1:1, Luke 19:41, Luke 19:44. interpretation
- How should this book guide our response? Make room for truthful lament, confession, and prayer in devastation. Hope in mercy does not require pretending that suffering is small or that every question has been resolved. interpretation
Cited: Lamentations 5:1, Lamentations 5:22, Lamentations 1:1, Luke 19:41, Luke 19:44
Who wrote it, and how we know
Jeremiah (traditional)
From early tradition
What Scripture saysThe book does not name its author. Chronicles records that Jeremiah lamented for Josiah.
2 Chronicles 35:25
Early traditionThe Greek translation and early tradition name Jeremiah.
What is debatedAuthorship is not stated in the book itself.
Related passages
- But thou hast utterly rejected us Ps 44:9 Ps 60:1-2 Jer 15:1-5 Ezek 37:11 Hos 1:6
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Lamentations 5
Lamentations consists of poetic laments over Jerusalem's devastation. The book does not name its author. Shifts between the city's voice, an individual sufferer, and communal prayer must be respected. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Lamentations 1:1 Lamentations 3:1 Lamentations 5:1
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Lamentations
Lamentations consists of poetic laments over Jerusalem's devastation. The book does not name its author. Shifts between the city's voice, an individual sufferer, and communal prayer must be respected.
Lamentations 1:1 Lamentations 3:1 Lamentations 5:1
The deserted city laments
Lamentations 1:1–22FocusLoss and confession
Connection to the wholeJerusalem's desolation is portrayed through lament and confession, inviting attention to the severity of the city's suffering.
interpretation The day of the LORD's anger
Lamentations 2:1–22FocusDevastation and an appeal to cry out
Connection to the wholeThe lament considers the destruction as judgment and urges a pouring out of the heart before the Lord.
interpretation The sufferer remembers and hopes
Lamentations 3:1–66FocusAffliction, mercy, and appeal
Connection to the wholeIndividual affliction gives way to remembrance of the LORD's mercies, self-examination, and further appeals for help and justice.
interpretation The former glory overturned
Lamentations 4:1–22FocusReversal and responsibility
Connection to the wholeThe poem contrasts earlier conditions with present degradation and considers the failures surrounding the city's collapse.
interpretation FocusRemember and restore
Connection to the wholeThe closing communal prayer brings the people's condition before the LORD and asks for restoration without supplying a simple narrative resolution.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.