Devine Scripture

Lamentations 5:13

What does Lamentations 5:13 mean?

A plain-English look at Lamentations 5:13 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Lamentations 5:13 means

Young men are forced to grind at the mill, an exhausting task often assigned to animals or slaves, while children stagger under heavy loads of wood. The image shows a society stripped of its normal rhythms and roles. Those who should be studying, serving in temple or trade, and preparing for families are reduced to menial, backbreaking labor. Children, meant to play and learn, buckle under burdens. The verse exposes oppression’s cruelty and the depth of national weakness. In prayer they spread this before Jehovah, the defender of the weak, implying that His compassion must relieve those who are crushed before they are deformed by perpetual toil.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

The young men bare the mill; And the children stumbled under the wood.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

The young men bare the mill; And the children stumbled under the wood.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

The young men were crushing the grain, and the boys were falling under the wood.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

Young men to grind they have taken, And youths with wood have stumbled.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

They abused the young men indecently: and the children fell under the wood.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

The young men have borne the mill, and the youths have stumbled under the wood.

Context

After leaders are shamed, the lament shows the youth oppressed. Verse 13 brings the disaster into the next generation, signaling a bleak future if God does not intervene. The following verse will show civic life silenced and joy extinguished, as elders and young men lose their places of judgment and celebration. The trajectory heads toward a summary of joy’s end and a confession of sin in verse 16.

v.12Princes were hanged up by their hand: The faces of elders were not honored.

v.13This passage

v.14The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Matthew 23:4

    Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger.

  • Exodus 11:5

    and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of cattle.

  • Isaiah 47:2

    Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.

  • Isaiah 58:6

    Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

  • Exodus 23:5

    If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, thou shalt forbear to leave him, thou shalt surely release it with him.

  • Job 31:10

    Then let my wife grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her.

Related questions readers ask

Keep reading

Want to dig deeper? Explore Lamentations 5

Hand-picked devotionals, topical studies, and pastoral answers that draw on Lamentations 5.

Keep exploring

Follow this verse across Scripture

Topics, devotionals, original-language word studies, and figures connected to Lamentations 5:13.

Browse every hub

BibleTopicsBible answersDevotionalsFamous passagesWord studiesPeoplePlacesVerses for…Reading plansCommentary