Lamentations – Chapter 5

Old Testament22 Verses

Chapter Summary

Lamentations 5 opens with the words: "Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider and behold our reproach." Across its 22 verses, two threads run through the text: sin and divine judgment and justice and care for the poor. Read slowly, this chapter rewards the kind of prayerful attention the Church calls lectio divina.

1Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider and behold our reproach.

2Our inheritance is turned to aliens: our houses to strangers.

3We are become orphans without a father: our mothers are as widows.

4We have drunk our water for money: we have bought our wood.

5We were dragged by the necks, we were weary and no rest was given us.

6We have given our hand to Egypt, and to the Assyrians, that we might be satisfied with bread.

7Our fathers have sinned, and are not: and we have borne their iniquities.

8Servants have ruled over us: there was none to redeem us out of their hand.

9We fetched our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the desert.

10Our skin was burnt as an oven, by reason of the violence of the famine.

11They oppressed the women in Sion, and the virgins in the cities of Juda.

12The princes were hanged up by their hand: they did not respect the persons of the ancients.

13They abused the young men indecently: and the children fell under the wood.

14The ancients have ceased from the gates: the young men from the choir of the singers.

15The joy of our heart is ceased, our dancing is turned into mourning.

16The crown is fallen from our head: woe to us, because we have sinned.

17Therefore is our heart sorrowful, therefore are our eyes become dim.

18For mount Sion, because it is destroyed, foxes have walked upon it.

19But thou, O Lord, shalt remain for ever, thy throne from generation to generation.

20Why wilt thou forget us for ever? why wilt thou forsake us for a long time?

21Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted: renew our days, as from the beginning.

22But thou hast utterly rejected us, thou art exceedingly angry with us.

Important Verses in Lamentations 5

Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider and behold our reproach.

Lamentations 5:1

The joy of our heart is ceased, our dancing is turned into mourning.

Lamentations 5:15

But thou, O Lord, shalt remain for ever, thy throne from generation to generation.

Lamentations 5:19

But thou hast utterly rejected us, thou art exceedingly angry with us.

Lamentations 5:22

Historical Context

As a Old Testament book, Lamentations was written with the survivors of Jerusalem's fall, learning to grieve with hope in view. Chapter 5 of 5 brings the book to its close, gathering up themes introduced earlier. It is a narrative passage recounting concrete events in salvation history with 22 verses in the Douay-Rheims translation. It opens with the line: "Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider and behold our reproach." It concludes: "But thou hast utterly rejected us, thou art exceedingly angry with us. " Read against its original backdrop, Five poems of grief over the destroyed Jerusalem: the Temple burned, the people exiled, the city desolate. Catholic tradition dates the book to the period described in its introduction: Shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC.

Who Wrote It

Traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah

When It Was Written

Shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC

Catholic Commentary

Read at the narrative level, this chapter presents teaching, action, or revelation within the broader account of grief over Jerusalem's destruction. A pivotal line is verse 1: "Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider and behold our reproach." The passage repeatedly touches on sin and divine judgment.

The Church teaches that every passage of Scripture must be read in light of Christ and the Magisterium (CIC 854). Here, the Church prays these laments during Holy Week (CIC 2635). The spiritual sense invites believers to recognize sin and divine judgment as part of God's pedagogy of salvation.

Applied to the life of faith, the passage supports the Church's conviction that God's mercies are new every morning. Whether read privately or heard in the liturgy, Lamentations 5 calls for a response of faith, repentance, and charity.

Main Teachings

  • Sin has real consequences, but God's judgment always aims at conversion and restoration.
  • God defends the poor and the oppressed, and calls His people to act with justice.
  • The family is the first school of faith, where love, obedience, and forgiveness are learned.

Reflection for Today

Sacred Scripture presents Lamentations Chapter 5 as a unique stage in salvation history, not merely as background to other books.

St. John Chrysostom and other Fathers of the Church meditated on texts like this one, seeing in them instruction for the spiritual life. the Church prays these laments during Holy Week (CIC 2635). The passage calls believers to grasp that God's mercies are new every morning.

Consider praying with this chapter again at day's end, offering God gratitude for one insight received. The Church encourages daily contact with Scripture (CIC 302) so that Christ's mind may be formed in us.

💡Catholic Reflection • Church Teachings

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Lamentations Chapter 5 about?

Lamentations 5 contains 22 verses. It opens with "Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider and behold our reproach." and closes with "But thou hast utterly rejected us, thou art exceedingly angry with us. ". The book as a whole is funeral laments in acrostic poetry.

What is a key verse in Lamentations 5?

One of the most significant verses is verse 1: "Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider and behold our reproach." It is often cited in Catholic teaching and preaching.

Who wrote Lamentations and when?

Traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah. Shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC.

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