Lamentations 5:20
What does Lamentations 5:20 mean?
A plain-English look at Lamentations 5:20 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Lamentations 5:20 means
They ask why God seems to have forgotten and forsaken them for so long. This is not a denial of His faithfulness (just affirmed), but a frank expression of felt absence. Faith can ask hard questions without irreverence, especially when the questions drive one toward God rather than away. Their words acknowledge the length and depth of suffering and confess that only God’s return to them can end it. The verse creates space for the paradox of lament: believing in God’s unchanging throne while wrestling with His delayed comfort.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, Andforsake us so long time?
KJV
King James Version · 1611Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, Andforsake us so long time?
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Why have we gone from your memory for ever? why have you been turned away from us for so long?
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Why for ever dost Thou forget us? Thou forsakest us for length of days!
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Why wilt thou forget us for ever? why wilt thou forsake us for a long time?
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, dost thou forsake us so long time?
Context
After affirming God’s eternal reign, the prayer voices the tension of experience—divine sovereignty with apparent divine distance. Verse 20 frames the emotional question that makes the next request urgent. Verse 21 will ask God to turn and renew them, recognizing that repentance and restoration are ultimately His work. The flow moves from perplexity to petition, before closing with the stark statement of verse 22.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Psalms 89:46
How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? How longshall thy wrath burn like fire?
- Psalms 94:3
Jehovah, how long shall the wicked, How long shall the wicked triumph?
- Psalms 13:1
How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou forget me for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
- Psalms 44:24
Wherefore hidest thou thy face, And forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
- Isaiah 64:9
Be not wroth very sore, O Jehovah, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, look, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
- Psalms 79:5
How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou be angry for ever? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
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