Lamentations 4:17-22

17 ¹Our eyes failed, ever watching ²vainly for help; in our watching we watched for ³a nation which could not save.

18 ⁴They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; ⁵our end drew near; our days were numbered, for our end had come.

19 Our pursuers were ⁶swifter than the eagles in the heavens; they chased us on the mountains; they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

20 ⁷The breath of our nostrils, ⁸the Lord’s anointed, was captured ⁹in their pits, of whom we said, ¹⁰“Under his shadow we shall live among the nations. ”

21 ¹¹Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in ¹²the land of Uz; but to you also ¹³the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.

22 ¹⁴The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished; he will keep you in exile no longer; ^[a] but ¹⁵your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish; he will uncover your sins.

Lamentations 4:17-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LAMENTATIONS 4

The prophet begins this chapter with a complaint of the ill usage of the dear children of God, and precious sons of Zion, La 4:1,2; relates the dreadful effects of the famine during the siege of Jerusalem, La 4:3-10; the taking and destruction of that city he imputes to the wrath of God; and represents it as incredible to the kings and inhabitants of the earth, La 4:11,12; the causes of which were the sins of the prophets, priests, and people, La 4:13-16; expresses the vain hopes they once had, but now were given up entirely, their king being taken, La 4:17-20; and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy of the destruction of the Edomites, and of the return of the Jews from captivity, La 4:21,22.

Cross References

• 1. 4:17 Ps. 119:82, 123; [Jer. 3:23]
• 2. 4:17 Ps. 119:82, 123; [Jer. 3:23]
• 3. 4:17 Jer. 37:7, 8
• 4. 4:18 ch. 3:52
• 5. 4:18 Ezek. 7:2, 3, 6; Amos 8:2
• 6. 4:19 Jer. 4:13; [2 Sam. 1:23; Hab. 1:8]
• 7. 4:20 [Gen. 2:7]
• 8. 4:20 [ch. 2:9; 2 Kgs. 25:5, 6]
• 9. 4:20 [Ezek. 12:13; 17:20; 19:4, 8]
• 10. 4:20 [Judg. 9:15; Ezek. 31:6, 17]
• 11. 4:21 [ch. 1:21]
• 12. 4:21 Job 1:1; Jer. 25:20
• 13. 4:21 See Jer. 25:15, 16
• 14. 4:22 [Isa. 40:2]
• 15. 4:22 Obad. 10

Footnotes

• [a] 4:22 Or 'he will not exile you again'