Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, August 23rd, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Read the Bible

Bible in Basic English

Lamentations 3:10

He is like a bear waiting for me, like a lion in secret places.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   Bear;   Despondency;   Lion;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Bear, the;   Judgments;   Lion, the;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Lion;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Bear;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Lamentations;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Lamentations, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Acrostic;   Lamentations, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bear;   Lion;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Bear;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Lion;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He is a bear waiting in ambush,a lion in hiding.
Hebrew Names Version
He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
King James Version
He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
English Standard Version
He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding;
New American Standard Bible
He is to me like a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in secret places.
New Century Version
He is like a bear ready to attack me, like a lion in hiding.
Amplified Bible
He is to me like a bear lying in wait, And like a lion [hiding] in secret places.
World English Bible
He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
Geneva Bible (1587)
He was vnto me as a beare lying in waite, and as a Lion in secret places.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
He is to me like a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in secret places.
Legacy Standard Bible
He is to me like a bear lying in wait,Like a lion in secret places.
Berean Standard Bible
He is a bear lying in wait, a lion in hiding.
Contemporary English Version
God was like a bear or a lion waiting in ambush for me;
Complete Jewish Bible
He lies in wait for me like a bear, like a lion in hiding.
Darby Translation
He is unto me [as] a bear lying in wait, a lion in secret places.
Easy-to-Read Version
He is like a bear about to attack me, like a lion that is in a hiding place.
George Lamsa Translation
He has been to me as a wolf lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
Good News Translation
He waited for me like a bear; he pounced on me like a lion.
Lexham English Bible
To me he is like a bear lying in wait, a lion in hiding.
Literal Translation
He was a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in secret places.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He layeth waite for me like a Bere, and as a lyon in a hole.
American Standard Version
He is unto me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
He is unto me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
King James Version (1611)
He was vnto me as a Beare lying in waite, and as a Lion in secret places.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
He layeth wayte for me lyke a beare, and as a lion in a hole.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
he has troubled me, as a she-bear lying in wait: he is to me as a lion in secret places.
English Revised Version
He is unto me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Deleth. He is maad a bere settinge aspies to me, a lioun in hid places.
Update Bible Version
He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
Webster's Bible Translation
He [was] to me [as] a bear lying in wait, [and as] a lion in secret places.
New English Translation

ד (Dalet)

To me he is like a bear lying in ambush, like a hidden lion stalking its prey.
New King James Version
He has been to me a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in ambush.
New Living Translation
He has hidden like a bear or a lion, waiting to attack me.
New Life Bible
He is like a bear lying in wait, like a lion hiding in secret places.
New Revised Standard
He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding;
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
A bear lying in wait, he is to me, a lion, in secret places;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Daleth. He is become to me as a bear lying in wait: as a lion in secret places.
Revised Standard Version
He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding;
Young's Literal Translation
A bear lying in wait He [is] to me, A lion in secret hiding-places.
THE MESSAGE
He's a prowling bear tracking me down, a lion in hiding ready to pounce. He knocked me from the path and ripped me to pieces. When he finished, there was nothing left of me. He took out his bow and arrows and used me for target practice.

Contextual Overview

1 I am the man who has seen trouble by the rod of his wrath. 2 By him I have been made to go in the dark where there is no light. 3 Truly against me his hand has been turned again and again all the day. 4 My flesh and my skin have been used up by him and my bones broken. 5 He has put up a wall against me, shutting me in with bitter sorrow. 6 He has kept me in dark places, like those who have been long dead. 7 He has put a wall round me, so that I am not able to go out; he has made great the weight of my chain. 8 Even when I send up a cry for help, he keeps my prayer shut out. 9 He has put up a wall of cut stones about my ways, he has made my roads twisted. 10 He is like a bear waiting for me, like a lion in secret places.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

unto: Job 10:16, Isaiah 38:13, Hosea 5:14, Hosea 6:1, Hosea 13:7, Hosea 13:8, Amos 5:18-20

in secret: Psalms 10:9, Psalms 17:12

Reciprocal: Job 16:9 - teareth me

Cross-References

Genesis 2:25
And the man and his wife were without clothing, and they had no sense of shame.
Genesis 3:7
And their eyes were open and they were conscious that they had no clothing and they made themselves coats of leaves stitched together.
Genesis 3:17
And to Adam he said, Because you gave ear to the voice of your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain you will get your food from it all your life.
Genesis 3:18
Thorns and waste plants will come up, and the plants of the field will be your food;
Exodus 3:6
And he said, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses kept his face covered for fear of looking on God.
Exodus 32:25
And Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them loose to their shame before their haters:
Job 23:15
For this cause I am in fear before him, my thoughts of him overcome me.
Psalms 119:120
My flesh is moved for fear of you; I give honour to your decisions.
Isaiah 33:14
The sinners in Zion are full of fear; the haters of God are shaking with wonder. Who among us may keep his place before the burning fire? who among us may see the eternal burnings?
Isaiah 47:3
The shame of your unclothed condition will be seen by all: I will give punishment without mercy,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He [was] unto me [as] a bear lying in wait,.... For its prey, which seizes on it at once, and tears it in pieces; such were the Chaldeans to the Jews by divine permission:

[and as] a lion in secret places; lurking there, in order to take every opportunity and advantage, and fall upon any creature that comes that way. The same thing is signified here as before; see Hosea 5:14.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Having dwelt upon the difficulties which hemmed in his path, he now shows that there are dangers attending upon escape.

Lamentations 3:11

The meaning is, “God, as a lion, lying in wait, has made me turn aside from my path, but my flight was in vain, for springing upon me from His ambush lie has torn me in pieces.”

Desolate - Or, astonied, stupefied that he cannot flee. The word is a favorite one with Jeremiah.

Lamentations 3:12

This new simile arises out of the former one, the idea of a hunter being suggested by that of the bear and lion. When the hunter comes, it is not to save him.

Lamentations 3:14

Metaphor is dropped, and Jeremiah shows the real nature of the arrows which rankled in him so deeply.

Lamentations 3:15

“He hath” filled me to the full with bitterness, i. e. bitter sorrows Job 9:18.

Lamentations 3:16

Broken my teeth with gravel stones - His bread was so filled with grit that in eating it his teeth were broken.

Lamentations 3:17

Prosperity - literally, as in the margin, i. e. I forgot what good was, I lost the very idea of what it meant.

Lamentations 3:18

The prophet reaches the verge of despair. But by struggling against it he reaches at length firm ground.


 
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