Lamentations 2:11
What does Lamentations 2:11 mean?
A plain-English look at Lamentations 2:11 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Lamentations 2:11 means
Jeremiah’s grief overflows: his eyes fail with tears; his insides churn; his “liver is poured out,” a vivid way to speak of total emotional collapse. The cause is the destruction of his people, especially the sight of infants and nursing babies fainting in city streets. This is suffering beyond words—physical hunger and civic ruin mingled. A prophet often warns, but here he weeps. The verse reminds us that true theology does not harden the heart. Even when judgment is deserved, God’s servants are moved to compassion, grieving the terrible cost borne by the weakest among the people.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Mine eyes do fail with tears, my heart is troubled; My liver is poured upon the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the young children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Mine eyes do fail with tears, my heart is troubled; My liver is poured upon the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the young children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949My eyes are wasted with weeping, the inmost parts of my body are deeply moved, my inner parts are drained out on the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because of the young children and babies at the breast who are falling without strength in the open squares of the town.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Consumed by tears have been my eyes, Troubled have been my bowels, Poured out to the earth hath been my liver, For the breach of the daughter of my people; In infant and suckling being feeble, In the broad places of the city,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Caph. My eyes have failed with weeping, my bowels are troubled: my liver is poured out upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people, when the children, and the sucklings, fainted away in the streets of the city.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Mine eyes are consumed with tears, my bowels are troubled; my liver is poured upon the earth, because of the ruin of the daughter of my people; because infant and suckling swoon in the streets of the city.
Context
Following the community’s mourning (v. 10), verse 11 personalizes it through Jeremiah’s body language of grief. This prefaces verse 12, which gives voice to the children’s desperate cries for grain and wine before they faint. The narrative tightens from public lament to the immediate, heartbreaking scenes of starvation. After this intense focus on the vulnerable, the poem will widen again to rhetorical questions about who can heal Jerusalem and then accuse false prophets of misleading words that failed to expose sin and avert captivity.
v.10The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, they keep silence; They have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.
v.11This passage
v.12They say to their mothers, Where is grain and wine? When they swoon as the wounded in the streets of the city, When their soul is poured out into their mothers’ bosom.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Psalms 31:9
Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for I am in distress: Mine eye wasteth away with grief, yea, my soul and my body.
- 1 Samuel 30:4
Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
- Psalms 6:7
Mine eye wasteth away because of grief; It waxeth old because of all mine adversaries.
- Lamentations 1:16
For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water; Because the comforter that should refresh my soul is far from me: My children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.
- Lamentations 4:3
Even the jackals draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: The daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
- Psalms 69:3
I am weary with my crying; my throat is dried: Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
Related questions readers ask
Keep reading
Want to dig deeper? Explore Lamentations 2
Hand-picked devotionals, topical studies, and pastoral answers that draw on Lamentations 2.
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.