Why do you keep on forgetting ¹  us? Why do you forsake us so long?

biblegateway Lam 5:20

Why do You forget us forever? Why do You forsake us so long?

Why have You forgotten us forever, abandoned us for our entire lives?

Why have you completely forgotten us? Why have you abandoned us for such a long time?

biblegateway Lam 5:20

Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long?

Why do you forget us forever, why do you forsake us for so many days?

bibleoremus Lam 5:20

Why have you forgotten us completely? Why have you forsaken us these many days?

Why do you forget us so completely and forsake us these many days?

biblegateway Lam 5:20

Why do You forget us forever, And forsake us for so long a time?

Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, [and] forsake us so long time?

biblegateway Lam 5:20

Why do you keep on forgetting ¹  us? Why do you forsake us so long?

¹ tn The Hebrew verb “forget” often means “to not pay attention to, ignore,” just as the Hebrew “remember” often means “to consider, attend to.”

¹ sn The verbs “to forget” and “to remember” are often used figuratively in scripture when God is the subject, particularly in contexts of judgment (God forgets his people) and restoration of blessing (God remembers his people). In this case, the verb “to forget” functions as a hypocatastasis (implied comparison), drawing a comparison between God’s judgment and rejection of Jerusalem to a person forgetting that Jerusalem even exists. God’s judgment of Jerusalem was so intense and enduring that it seemed as though he had forgotten her. The synonymous parallelism makes this clear.