¹Rangarirai Jehovha, zvakatiwira; tarirai, muone kushorwa kwedu.

¹Remember, O Jehovah, what hath befallen us, Look attentively, and see our reproach.

²Nhaka yedu yaenda kuvatorwa, nedzimba dzedu kune vokumwe.

²Our inheritance hath been turned to strangers, Our houses to foreigners.

³Tiri nherera navasina baba; madzimai edu akaita sechirikadzi.

³Orphans we have been — without a father, our mothers [are] as widows.

⁴Takamwa mvura yedu tichiita zvokutenga nemari; huni dzedu takadzitengeserwa.

⁴Our water for money we have drunk, Our wood for a price doth come.

⁵Vanodzingana nesu vari pamitsipa yedu; taneta hatine zororo.

⁵For our neck we have been pursued, We have laboured — there hath been no rest for us.

⁶Takatambanudzira ruoko rwedu kuna vaEgipita, nokuna vaAsiria, kuti tigute zvokudya.

⁶[To] Egypt we have given a hand, [To] Asshur, to be satisfied with bread.

⁷Madzibaba edu akatadza, zvino havachipo; isu takatakura zvakaipa zvavo.

⁷Our fathers have sinned — they are not, We their iniquities have borne.

⁸Varanda vanotibata ushe, hakuna angatirwira pamaoko avo.

⁸Servants have ruled over us, A deliverer there is none from their hand.

⁹Tinozviwanira zvokudya zvedu upenyu bwedu huri panjodzi, nemhaka yomunondo uri kurenje.

⁹With our lives we bring in our bread, Because of the sword of the wilderness.

¹⁰Ganda redu rasviba sechoto, nemhaka yokupisa kukuru kwenzara.

¹⁰Our skin as an oven hath been burning, Because of the raging of the famine.

¹¹Vakachinyira vakadzi paZiyoni, nemhandara pamaguta aJudha.

¹¹Wives in Zion they have humbled, Virgins — in cities of Judah.

¹²Machinda akasungirirwa namaoko avo, vakuru havana kukudzwa.

¹²Princes by their hand have been hanged, The faces of elders have not been honoured.

¹³Majaya akatakura guyo, vana vakagumburwa nokurema kwehuni.

¹³Young men to grind they have taken, And youths with wood have stumbled.

¹⁴Vakuru vakarega kusvika pasuwo, majaya akarega kuimba kwavo.

¹⁴The aged from the gate have ceased, Young men from their song.

¹⁵Mufaro womoyo wedu waguma; kutamba kwedu kwashanduka kuchema.

¹⁵Ceased hath the joy of our heart, Turned to mourning hath been our dancing.

¹⁶Korona yawa pamisoro yedu; tine nhamo! nekuti takatadza.

¹⁶Fallen hath the crown [from] our head, Wo [is] now to us, for we have sinned.

¹⁷Nemhaka iyi moyo yedu yapera simba, nemhaka yezvinhu izvi meso edu haachaoni zvakanaka;

¹⁷For this hath our heart been sick, For these have our eyes been dim.

¹⁸nokuda kwegomo reZiyoni, rava dongo; makava anofambapo.

¹⁸For the mount of Zion — that is desolate, Foxes have gone up on it.

¹⁹imwi Jehovha muripo nokusingaperi; chigaro chenyu choushe chiripo kusvikira kumarudzi namarudzi.

¹⁹Thou, O Jehovah, to the age remainest, Thy throne to generation and generation.

²⁰Munotikangamwireiko nokusingaperi, munotirasireiko nguva huru yakadai?

²⁰Why for ever dost Thou forget us? Thou forsakest us for length of days!

²¹Tidzoserei kwamuri, Jehovha, ipapo tichadzoka; vandudzai mazuva edu ave sakare.

²¹Turn us back, O Jehovah, unto Thee, And we turn back, renew our days as of old.

²²Asi makatirasa chose here? Makatitsamwira zvikuru here?

²²For hast Thou utterly rejected us? Thou hast been wroth against us — exceedingly?