Lamentations 5:16
What does Lamentations 5:16 mean?
A plain-English look at Lamentations 5:16 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Lamentations 5:16 means
“The crown is fallen from our head” confesses the loss of royal dignity, national honor, and God-given privilege. They add, “Woe unto us! for we have sinned.” This is the moral center of the chapter. Their suffering is not blamed only on enemies or ancestors; they own their guilt. By speaking this to Jehovah, they align with truth and open the way for mercy. The fall of the crown contrasts sharply with the unfallen throne of God soon affirmed in verse 19. If their sin cast down their glory, only divine forgiveness and favor can lift it again.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000The crown is fallen from our head: Woe unto us! for we have sinned.
KJV
King James Version · 1611The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901The crown is fallen from our head: Woe unto us! for we have sinned.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949The crown has been taken from our head: sorrow is ours, for we are sinners.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Fallen hath the crown <FI>from<Fi> our head, Woe <FI>is<Fi> now to us, for we have sinned.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752The crown is fallen from our head: woe to us, because we have sinned.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, for we have sinned!
Context
After summarizing the end of joy, verse 16 explains it: sin brought the fall. This confession pivots the lament from mere description to repentance. The next verses will express the inward effects—faint hearts and dim eyes—and the outward scene of Zion’s desolation, before lifting eyes to God’s enduring reign. The movement prepares for the hope-filled petition in verses 19–21.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Lamentations 1:1
How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! She is become as a widow, that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces is become tributary!
- Lamentations 1:8
Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is become as an unclean thing; All that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
- Ezekiel 21:26
thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Remove the mitre, and take off the crown; this shall be no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.
- 2 Peter 2:4
For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
- Revelation 2:10
Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.
- Psalms 89:39
Thou hast abhorred the covenant of thy servant: Thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.
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