Lamentations 3:11
What does Lamentations 3:11 mean?
A plain-English look at Lamentations 3:11 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Lamentations 3:11 means
He describes God turning him off his path, mauling him, and leaving him desolate. The scattering of plans and the rending of life evoke the experience of Jerusalem’s ruin—homes destroyed, families torn, hopes dashed. Desolation here is both outward and inward: the land lies waste, and the soul feels emptied. The verse underscores that when Jehovah sets Himself against His people in discipline, nothing stands. Yet it also hints that the path we were on needed turning. God’s redirection, though brutal in the moment, has a redemptive end in view: to break pride and bring hearts back to Him.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
KJV
King James Version · 1611He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949By him my ways have been turned on one side and I have been pulled in bits; he has made me waste.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862My ways He is turning aside, and He pulleth me in pieces, He hath made me a desolation.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Daleth. He hath turned aside my paths, and hath broken me in pieces, he hath made me desolate.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
Context
The predator imagery culminates in total desolation. Next, in verses 12–13, the figure switches from beasts to a warrior-archer, signifying targeted, intentional strikes. This progression from ambush to precise aim shows that the suffering is neither chaotic nor accidental; it is under God’s sovereign control. Recognizing that prepares the way for the shift to hope in God’s character, because the One who aims the arrows also holds mercy in His hands.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Jeremiah 19:8
And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
- Jeremiah 51:20
Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
- Psalms 50:22
Now consider this, ye that forget God, Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:
- Daniel 2:40
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that crusheth all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.
- Micah 5:8
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through, treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
- Revelation 18:19
And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
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