Devine Scripture

Lamentations 5:18

What does Lamentations 5:18 mean?

A plain-English look at Lamentations 5:18 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Lamentations 5:18 means

Zion’s mountain, once the joyful center of worship, stands desolate, with foxes roaming where people once praised. The image is stark: the holy place reduced to ruins fit only for wild creatures. This is the visible outcome of covenant unfaithfulness and divine judgment. Yet naming it to Jehovah is itself an act of faith; they speak to the God whose presence once filled that place, implying He can restore what He has laid low. The verse brings the lament to its lowest point, from which only God’s character—unchanging and sovereign—can provide a way up.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: The foxes walk upon it.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: The foxes walk upon it.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

Because of the mountain of Zion which is a waste; jackals go over it.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

For the mount of Zion--that is desolate, Foxes have gone up on it.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

For mount Sion, because it is destroyed, foxes have walked upon it.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: foxes walk over it.

Context

After describing inner faintness, the prayer identifies its cause: the desolation of Zion. Verse 18 reaches the nadir of the chapter’s lament. Next, the focus lifts to God’s eternal reign in verse 19, a deliberate contrast between fallen Zion and the unfallen throne. This transition is crucial for the chapter’s movement from grief to a plea for restoration.

v.17For this our heart is faint; For these things our eyes are dim;

v.18This passage

v.19Thou, O Jehovah, abidest for ever; Thy throne is from generation to generation.

Cross references

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

  • Isaiah 32:13

    Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city.

  • Lamentations 2:8

    Jehovah hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; He hath stretched out the line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying; And he hath made the rampart and wall to lament; they languish together.

  • Jeremiah 26:9

    Why hast thou prophesied in the name of Jehovah, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant? And all the people were gathered unto Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah.

  • Jeremiah 17:3

    O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures for a spoil, and thy high places, because of sin, throughout all thy borders.

  • Jeremiah 9:11

    And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

  • Micah 3:12

    Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

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