Lamentations 1:4
What does Lamentations 1:4 mean?
A plain-English look at Lamentations 1:4 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Lamentations 1:4 means
The roads to Zion “mourn” because no one comes to the appointed festivals. Empty gates, sighing priests, afflicted virgins, and the city’s bitterness reveal more than civic decline: worship life has collapsed. The feasts that once gathered joyful crowds now lack participants, signaling a broken relationship with Jehovah and the end of public praise. The priests’ grief and the young women’s sorrow show how every layer of society suffers when the sanctuary is quiet. The mourning pathways personify the loss: even the routes themselves feel bereavement. This is spiritual winter—no voices ascending in gladness, only silence and sighs where covenant joy should have resounded.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000The 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.
KJV
King James Version · 1611The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901The 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.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949The ways of Zion are sad, because no one comes to the holy meeting; all her doorways are made waste, her priests are breathing out sorrow: her virgins are troubled, and it is bitter for her.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862The ways of Zion are mourning, Without any coming at the appointed time, All her gates are desolate, her priests sigh, Her virgins are afflicted--and she hath bitterness.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Daleth. The ways of Sion mourn, because there are none that come to the solemn feast: all her gates are broken down; her priests sigh; her virgins are in affliction; and she is oppressed with bitterness.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn assembly: all her gates are desolate; her priests sigh, her virgins are in grief; and as for her, she is in bitterness.
Context
After depicting exile, the poem turns to religious devastation. Verse 4 shows worship practices halted and communal joy extinguished. This shift from political to spiritual loss prepares for the explicit theological reasoning in verse 5—Jehovah’s affliction for many transgressions. The image of desolate gates and grieving clergy links the city’s ruin to the withering of its worship, confirming that judgment affects both the nation’s strength and its soul. What follows expands the theme: enemies ruling (verse 5), princes weak (verse 6), and the bitter memory of better days (verse 7).
v.3Judah 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.
v.4This passage
v.5Her adversaries are become the head, her enemies prosper; For Jehovah hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: Her young children are gone into captivity before the adversary.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Jeremiah 10:22
The voice of tidings, behold, it cometh, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals.
- Lamentations 2:19
Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; Pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord: Lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.
- Isaiah 24:4
The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the lofty people of the earth do languish.
- Lamentations 2:6
And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden; he hath destroyed his place of assembly: Jehovah hath caused solemn assembly and sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, And hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.
- Lamentations 5:13
The young men bare the mill; And the children stumbled under the wood.
- Jeremiah 14:2
Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, they sit in black upon the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Related questions readers ask
Keep reading
Want to dig deeper? Explore Lamentations 1
Hand-picked devotionals, topical studies, and pastoral answers that draw on Lamentations 1.
Topics that quote it
Topic
Bible Verses About Faithfulness
Faithfulness describes a person’s loyal and steadfast devotion to God, and also God’s unchanging, unfailing character.
Topic
Bible Verses About the Faithfulness of God
God’s faithfulness is a cornerstone of our hope, revealing His unwavering character and His commitment to His promises through all generations.
Topic
Bible Verses About the Mercy of God
God’s mercy is a profound aspect of His character, showing His compassionate love and steadfast faithfulness toward humanity
What the Bible says about…
Verses for this moment
Verses for
Bible Verses for Morning Work Anxiety
Start the workday from a steadier place — verses to pray with coffee.
Verses for
Bible Verses for the Anniversary of a Loss
When the calendar remembers — verses for the day you can't forget.
Verses for
Bible Verses for When You Feel Hopeless
When the future has gone gray — verses that don't lecture, only hold.