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We extended a hand to Egypt and Assyria,
    to satisfy our need of bread.[a]
Our ancestors, who sinned, are no more;
    but now we bear their guilt.
Servants[b] rule over us,
    with no one to tear us from their hands.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:6 Extended a hand: that is, made an alliance. In its state of abjection, Judah was forced to depend on the major powers to the west and the east for subsistence.
  2. 5:8 Servants: the Hebrew word for “servant” is also the word used for an official of relatively high status (servant of the ruler; cf. 2 Kgs 25:24, where the term is used to refer to Babylonian rulers over occupied Jerusalem); the author doubtless intends the double meaning here.