Lamentations 1:11

Bible in Basic English

Breathing out grief all her people are looking for bread; they have given their desired things for food to give them life: see, O Lord, and take note; for she has become a thing of shame.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
All her people groanwhile they search for bread.They have traded their precious belongings for foodin order to stay alive.Lord, look and seehow I have become despised.

Hebrew Names Version
All her people sigh, they seek bread; They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul: Look, LORD, and see; for I am become abject.

King James Version
All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O Lord , and consider; for I am become vile.

English Standard Version
All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. "Look, O Lord , and see, for I am despised."

New American Standard Bible
All her people groan, seeking bread; They have given their treasures for food To restore their lives. "See, LORD, and look, For I am despised."

New Century Version
All of Jerusalem's people groan, looking for bread. They are trading their precious things for food so they can stay alive. The city says, "Look, Lord , and see. I am hated."

Amplified Bible
All her people groan, seeking bread; They have exchanged their desirable and precious things for food To restore their lives. "See, O LORD, and consider How despised and repulsive I have become!"

World English Bible
All her people sigh, they seek bread; They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul: Look, Yahweh, and see; for I am become abject.

Geneva Bible (1587)
All her people sigh and seeke their bread: they haue giuen their pleasant thinges for meate to refresh the soule: see, O Lorde, and consider: for I am become vile.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
All her people groan seeking bread; They have given their precious things for food To restore their lives themselves. "See, O LORD, and look, For I am despised."

Legacy Standard Bible
All her people are sighing, seeking bread;They have given their desirable things for foodTo restore their souls."See, O Yahweh, and look,For I am despised."

Berean Standard Bible
All her people groan as they search for bread. They have traded their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. Look, O LORD, and consider, for I have become despised.

Contemporary English Version
Everyone in the city groans while searching for food; they trade their valuables for barely enough scraps to stay alive. Jerusalem Speaks: Jerusalem shouts to the Lord , "Please look and see how miserable I am!"

Complete Jewish Bible
All her people are groaning, as they search for something to eat. They barter their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. "Look, Adonai ! See how despised I am.

Darby Translation
All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their precious things for food to revive [their] soul. See, Jehovah, and consider, for I am become vile.

Easy-to-Read Version
All the people of Jerusalem are groaning. All of her people are looking for food. They are giving away all their nice things for food to stay alive. Jerusalem says, "Look, Lord . Look at me! See how people hate me.

George Lamsa Translation
All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their precious things for food to relieve their soul; see, O LORD, and consider; for I am despised.

Good News Translation
Her people groan as they look for something to eat; They exchange their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. "Look at me, Lord ," the city cries; "see me in my misery."

Lexham English Bible
All her people groan, they are searching for bread. They give their treasures for food, to bring back life. See, O Yahweh, and look, how I am despised.

Literal Translation
All her people sigh from seeking bread. They gave their desirable things for food to revive the soul. See, O Jehovah, and look on me , for I have become vile.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
All hir people seke their bred with heuynes, & loke what precious thinge euery man hath, that geueth he for meate, to saue his life. Considre (O LORDE) and se, how vyle I am become.

American Standard Version
All her people sigh, they seek bread; They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul: See, O Jehovah, and behold; for I am become abject.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul. 'See, O LORD, and behold, how abject I am become.'

King James Version (1611)
All her people sigh, they seek bread, they haue giuen their pleasant things for meate to relieue the soule: see, O Lord, & consider: for I am become vile.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
All her people seeke their bread with heauinesse, and loke what precious thyng euery man hath, that geueth he for meate to saue his lyfe: Consider O Lorde, and see howe vile I am become.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
CHAPH. All her people groan, seeking bread: they have given their desirable things for meat, to restore their soul: behold, Lord, and look; for she is become dishonoured.

English Revised Version
All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to refresh the soul: see, O LORD, and behold; for I am become vile.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Caph. Al the puple therof was weilinge and sekynge breed, thei yauen alle preciouse thingis for mete, to coumforte the soule; se thou, Lord, and biholde, for Y am maad vijl.

Update Bible Version
All her people sigh, they seek bread; They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul: See, O Yahweh, and behold; for I have become abject.

Webster's Bible Translation
All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for food to relieve the soul: see, O LORD, and consider; for I am become vile.

New English Translation

כ (Kaf)

All her people groaned as they searched for a morsel of bread. They exchanged their valuables for just enough food to stay alive. "Look, O Lord ! Consider that I have become worthless!"

New King James Version
All her people sigh, They seek bread; They have given their valuables for food to restore life. "See, O LORD, and consider, For I am scorned."

New Living Translation
Her people groan as they search for bread. They have sold their treasures for food to stay alive. "O Lord , look," she mourns, "and see how I am despised.

New Life Bible
All her people cry inside themselves as they look for bread. They have traded their things of much worth for food to have strength. "Look and see, O Lord, for I am hated.

New Revised Standard
All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. Look, O Lord , and see how worthless I have become.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
All her people, are sighing, seeking bread, They have given their precious things for food, to bring back life, - Behold, O Yahweh, and discern, that I have become worthless.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Caph. All her people sigh, they seek bread: they have given all their precious things for food to relieve the soul: see, O Lord, and consider, for I am become vile.

Revised Standard Version
All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. "Look, O LORD, and behold, for I am despised."

Young's Literal Translation
All her people are sighing -- seeking bread, They have given their desirable things For food to refresh the body; See, O Jehovah, and behold attentively, For I have been lightly esteemed.

THE MESSAGE
All the people groaned, so desperate for food, so desperate to stay alive that they bartered their favorite things for a bit of breakfast: "O God , look at me! Worthless, cheap, abject!

Contextual Overview

¹ See her seated by herself, the town which was full of people! She who was great among the nations has become like a widow! She who was a princess among the countries has come under the yoke of forced work! ² She is sorrowing bitterly in the night, and her face is wet with weeping; among all her lovers she has no comforter: all her friends have been false to her, they have become her haters. ³ Judah has been taken away as a prisoner because of trouble and hard work; her living-place is among the nations, there is no rest for her: all her attackers have overtaken her in a narrow place. ⁴ The ways of Zion are sad, because no one comes to the holy meeting; all her doorways are made waste, her priests are breathing out sorrow: her virgins are troubled, and it is bitter for her. ⁵ Those who are against her have become the head, everything goes well for her haters; for the Lord has sent sorrow on her because of the great number of her sins: her young children have gone away as prisoners before the attacker. ⁶ And all her glory has gone from the daughter of Zion: her rulers have become like harts with no place for food, and they have gone in flight without strength before the attacker. ⁷ Jerusalem keeps in mind, in the days of her sorrow and of her wanderings, all the desired things which were hers in days gone by; when her people came into the power of her hater and she had no helper, her attackers saw their desire effected on her and made sport of her destruction. ⁸ Great is the sin of Jerusalem; for this cause she has become an unclean thing: all those who gave her honour are looking down on her, because they have seen her shame: now truly, breathing out grief, she is turned back. ⁹ In her skirts were her unclean ways; she gave no thought to her end; and her fall has been a wonder; she has no comforter: see her sorrow, O Lord; for the attacker is lifted up. ¹⁰ The hand of her hater is stretched out over all her desired things; for she has seen that the nations have come into her holy place, about whom you gave orders that they were not to come into the meeting of your people.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

seek: Lamentations 1:19, Lamentations 2:12, Lamentations 4:4-10, Deuteronomy 28:52-57, 2 Kings 6:25, Jeremiah 19:9, Jeremiah 38:9, Jeremiah 52:6, Ezekiel 4:15-17, Ezekiel 5:16, Ezekiel 5:17

relieve the soul: Heb. make the soul to come again, 1 Samuel 30:11, 1 Samuel 30:12

see: Lamentations 1:9, Lamentations 1:20, Lamentations 2:20, Job 40:4, Psalms 25:15-19

Reciprocal: Genesis 47:19 - buy us Psalms 9:13 - consider Isaiah 64:11 - all our Jeremiah 12:10 - trodden Lamentations 1:4 - her priests Lamentations 1:8 - she sigheth Lamentations 1:21 - have heard that Ezekiel 4:16 - eat

Cross-References

Genesis 1:9
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven come together in one place, and let the dry land be seen: and it was so.

Genesis 1:13
And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

Genesis 1:14
And God said, Let there be lights in the arch of heaven, for a division between the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for marking the changes of the year, and for days and for years:

Genesis 1:16
And God made the two great lights: the greater light to be the ruler of the day, and the smaller light to be the ruler of the night: and he made the stars.

Genesis 1:17
And God put them in the arch of heaven, to give light on the earth;

Genesis 1:20
And God said, Let the waters be full of living things, and let birds be in flight over the earth under the arch of heaven.

Genesis 1:29
And God said, See, I have given you every plant producing seed, on the face of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit producing seed: they will be for your food:

Genesis 2:5
In the day when the Lord God made earth and heaven there were no plants of the field on the earth, and no grass had come up: for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to do work on the land.

Genesis 2:9
And out of the earth the Lord made every tree to come, delighting the eye and good for food; and in the middle of the garden, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:16
And the Lord God gave the man orders, saying, You may freely take of the fruit of every tree of the garden:

Gill's Notes on the Bible

All her people sigh,.... Not her priests only, Lamentations 1:4; but all the common people, because of their affliction, particularly for want of bread. So the Targum,

"all the people of Jerusalem sigh because of the famine;''

for it follows:

they seek bread; to eat, as the Targum; inquire where it is to be had, but in vain:

they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: or, "to cause the soul to return" x; to fetch it back when fainting and swooning away through famine; and therefore would give anything for food; part with their rich clothes, jewels, and precious stones; with whatsoever they had that was valuable in their cabinets or coffers, that they might have meat to keep from fainting and dying; to refresh and recruit their spirits spent with hunger:

see, O Lord, and consider; for I am become vile; mean, base, and contemptible, in the eyes of men, through penury and want of food; through poverty, affliction, and distress; and therefore desires the Lord would consider her case, and look with pity and compassion on her.

x להשיב נפש "ad reducendum animam", Montanus, Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Sigh ... seek - Are sighing ... are seeking. The words are present participles, describing the condition of the people. After a siege lasting a year and a half the whole country, far and near, would be exhausted.

To relieve the soul - See the margin, i. e. to bring back life to them. They bring out their jewels and precious articles to obtain with them at least a meal.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 11. They have given their pleasant things — Jerusalem is compared to a woman brought into great straits, who parts with her jewels and trinkets in order to purchase by them the necessaries of life.