Lamentations 1:3
What does Lamentations 1:3 mean?
A plain-English look at Lamentations 1:3 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Lamentations 1:3 means
Judah has gone into exile, driven and worn down by hardship and forced labor. Among foreign nations she finds no rest, a stark contrast to the promised rest under God’s covenant when faithful. Attempting to escape, she is trapped “within the straits”—hemmed in, overtaken by persecutors. The imagery suggests the narrowing of options that sin brings: what seemed a way of escape becomes a corridor of capture. Exile is not random misfortune; it is the bitter harvest of long disobedience. The people’s homelessness and fatigue show judgment touching every sphere—land, body, and spirit—so that even movement brings no relief, only more evidence that the Lord has withdrawn his protective peace.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude; She dwelleth among the nations, she findeth no rest: All her persecutors overtook her within the straits.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude; She dwelleth among the nations, she findeth no rest: All her persecutors overtook her within the straits.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Judah has been taken away as a prisoner because of trouble and hard work; her living-place is among the nations, there is no rest for her: all her attackers have overtaken her in a narrow place.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Removed hath Judah because of affliction, And because of the abundance of her service; She hath dwelt among nations, She hath not found rest, All her pursuers have overtaken her between the straits.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Ghimel. Juda hath removed her dwelling place, because of her affliction, and the greatness of her bondage; she hath dwelt among the nations, and she hath found no rest; all her persecutors have taken her in the midst of straits.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude; she dwelleth among the nations, she findeth no rest: all her pursuers have overtaken her within the straits.
Context
The lament now names the national calamity: captivity. Verses 1–2 describe isolation and betrayal; verse 3 explains the consequence—exile without rest. This description bridges from relational sorrow to geopolitical ruin and sets up the temple-centered devastation in verse 4. The chapter’s flow alternates between what has happened (ruin, pursuit, famine) and why (transgression and divine judgment). Recognizing captivity as judgment prepares the reader to understand statements like “Jehovah hath afflicted her” (verse 5) and the confession of grievous sin (verse 8), themes that will recur and deepen.
v.2She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are become her enemies.
v.3This passage
v.4The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn assembly; All her gates are desolate, her priests do sigh: Her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Amos 9:1
I saw the Lord standing beside the altar: and he said, Smite the capitals, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
- Jeremiah 39:9
Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the residue of the people that remained in the city, the deserters also that fell away to him, and the residue of the people that remained.
- Jeremiah 52:8
But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
- 2 Chronicles 36:20
And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
- 2 Kings 25:21
And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
- Jeremiah 52:27
And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
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