A Prayer for Mercy
Remember, LORD, what has come upon us;Look, and see our adisgrace!Ps 44:13-162 Our inheritance has been turned over to astrangers,Our bhouses to foreigners.Is 1:7; Hos 8:7, 8Zeph 1:133 We have become orphans, awithout a father;Our mothers are like widows.Ex 22:24; Jer 15:8; 18:214 1We have to pay for our drinking awater,Our wood comes to us at a price.Lit We drink our water with silverIs 3:15 1Our pursuers are at our necks;We are worn out, we are given ano rest.Lit We have been pursued uponNeh 9:36, 376 We have 1submitted to aEgypt and Assyria 2to get enough bread.Lit given Egypt a handLit to be satisfied withHos 9:3; 12:17 Our afathers sinned, and are gone;It is we who have been burdened with the punishment for their wrongdoings.Jer 14:20; 16:128 aSlaves rule over us;There is bno one to rescue us from their hand.Neh 5:15Ps 7:2; Zech 11:69 We get our bread 1at the arisk of our livesBecause of the sword in the wilderness.Lit with our soulJer 40:9-1210 Our skin has become as ahot as an oven,Because of the ravages of hunger.Job 30:30; Lam 4:811 They violated the awomen in Zion,The virgins in the cities of Judah.Is 13:16; Zech 14:212 Leaders were hung by their hands;1aElders were not respected.Lit The faces of eldersIs 47:6; Lam 4:1613 Young men 1aworked at the grinding mill,And youths bstaggered under loads of wood.Lit carried theJudg 16:21Jer 7:1814 Elders are absent from the gate,Young men from their amusic.Is 24:8; Jer 7:3415 The joy of our hearts has aended;Our dancing has been turned into mourning.Jer 25:10; Amos 8:1016 The acrown has fallen from our head;bWoe to us, for we have sinned!Job 19:9; Ps 89:39; Jer 13:18Is 3:9-1117 Because of this our aheart is faint,Because of these things our beyes are dim;Is 1:5Job 17:7; Lam 2:1118 Because of aMount Zion which lies desolate,bJackals prowl in it.Mic 3:12Neh 4:3
19 aYou, LORD, 1rule forever;Your bthrone is from generation to generation.Lit sitPs 102:12, 25-27Ps 45:620 Why will You aforget us forever?Why do You abandon us for 1so long?Lit length of daysPs 13:1; 44:2421 aRestore us to You, LORD, so that we may be restored;Renew bour days as of old,Ps 80:3; Jer 31:18Is 60:20-2222 Unless aYou have utterly rejected usAnd are exceedingly bangry with us.Ps 60:1, 2; Jer 7:29Is 64:9