Lectionary Calendar
the First Sunday, December 28th, 2025
the Sunday after Christmas
the Sunday after Christmas
video advertismenet
advertisement
advertisement
advertisement
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!
Click here to join the effort!
Read the Bible
Literal Standard Version
Lamentations 4:10
The hands of merciful women have boiled their own children, || They have been for food to them, || In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Jump to:Bible Study Tools • Parallel Bible Verse • Bible Contextual Overview • Bible Cross-References • Gill's Bible Notes • Clarke's Bible Notes • Barnes' Bible Notes
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- EastonEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
Christian Standard Bible®
The hands of compassionate womenhave cooked their own children;they became their foodduring the destruction of my dear people.
The hands of compassionate womenhave cooked their own children;they became their foodduring the destruction of my dear people.
Hebrew Names Version
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
King James Version
The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
English Standard Version
The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
New American Standard Bible
The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Due to the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Due to the destruction of the daughter of my people.
New Century Version
With their own hands kind women cook their own children. They became food when my people were destroyed.
With their own hands kind women cook their own children. They became food when my people were destroyed.
Amplified Bible
The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people [Judah].
The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people [Judah].
World English Bible
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Geneva Bible (1587)
The hands of the pitifull women haue sodden their owne children, which were their meate in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of the pitifull women haue sodden their owne children, which were their meate in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Legacy Standard Bible
The hands of compassionate womenBoiled their own children;They became food for themBecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of compassionate womenBoiled their own children;They became food for themBecause of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Berean Standard Bible
The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Contemporary English Version
Life in the city is so bad that loving mothers have boiled and eaten their own children.
Life in the city is so bad that loving mothers have boiled and eaten their own children.
Complete Jewish Bible
With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children; their children became their food when the daughter of my people was destroyed.
With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children; their children became their food when the daughter of my people was destroyed.
Darby Translation
The hands of pitiful women have boiled their own children: they were their meat in the ruin of the daughter of my people.
The hands of pitiful women have boiled their own children: they were their meat in the ruin of the daughter of my people.
Easy-to-Read Version
Then even nice women cooked their own children. The children were food for their mothers. This happened when my people were destroyed.
Then even nice women cooked their own children. The children were food for their mothers. This happened when my people were destroyed.
George Lamsa Translation
The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children; they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children; they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Good News Translation
The disaster that came to my people brought horror; loving mothers boiled their own children for food.
The disaster that came to my people brought horror; loving mothers boiled their own children for food.
Lexham English Bible
The hands of compassionate women, have cooked their children; they became as something to eat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of compassionate women, have cooked their children; they became as something to eat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Literal Translation
The hands of the compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became food to them in the ruin of the daughter of my people.
The hands of the compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became food to them in the ruin of the daughter of my people.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The wome (which of nature are pitefull) haue sodden their owne children with their hondes: that they might be their meate, in ye miserable destruccion of the doughter of my people.
The wome (which of nature are pitefull) haue sodden their owne children with their hondes: that they might be their meate, in ye miserable destruccion of the doughter of my people.
American Standard Version
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Bible in Basic English
The hands of kind-hearted women have been boiling their children; they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of kind-hearted women have been boiling their children; they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
The hands of women full of compassion have sodden their own children; they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of women full of compassion have sodden their own children; they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
King James Version (1611)
The hands of the pitifull women haue sodden their owne children, they were their meate in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of the pitifull women haue sodden their owne children, they were their meate in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The women (whiche of nature are pitifull) haue sodden their owne chyldren with their hands, that they might be their meate in the miserable destruction of the daughter of my people.
The women (whiche of nature are pitifull) haue sodden their owne chyldren with their hands, that they might be their meate in the miserable destruction of the daughter of my people.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
JOD. The hands of tender-hearted women have sodden their own children: they became meat for them in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
JOD. The hands of tender-hearted women have sodden their own children: they became meat for them in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
English Revised Version
The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children; they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children; they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Joth. The hondis of merciful wymmen sethiden her children; thei weren maad the metis of tho wymmen in the sorewe of the douyter of my puple.
Joth. The hondis of merciful wymmen sethiden her children; thei weren maad the metis of tho wymmen in the sorewe of the douyter of my puple.
Update Bible Version
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Webster's Bible Translation
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children: they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children: they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
New English Translation
י (Yod)
The hands of tenderhearted women cooked their own children, who became their food, when my people were destroyed.New King James Version
The hands of the compassionate women Have cooked their own children; They became food for them In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of the compassionate women Have cooked their own children; They became food for them In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
New Living Translation
Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege.
Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege.
New Life Bible
Women who had shown loving-kindness have boiled their own children for food, because my people are destroyed.
Women who had shown loving-kindness have boiled their own children for food, because my people are destroyed.
New Revised Standard
The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food in the destruction of my people.
The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food in the destruction of my people.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
The hands of compassionate women, have cooked their own children, - they have served as nourishment to them, in the grievous injury of the daughter of my people.
The hands of compassionate women, have cooked their own children, - they have served as nourishment to them, in the grievous injury of the daughter of my people.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Jod. The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Jod. The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Revised Standard Version
The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Young's Literal Translation
The hands of merciful women have boiled their own children, They have been for food to them, In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The hands of merciful women have boiled their own children, They have been for food to them, In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
THE MESSAGE
Nice and kindly women boiled their own children for supper. This was the only food in town when my dear people were broken.
Nice and kindly women boiled their own children for supper. This was the only food in town when my dear people were broken.
Contextual Overview
1[ALEPH-BET] How the gold has become dim, || Changed the best—the pure gold! Stones of the sanctuary are poured out || At the head of all out-places. 2The precious sons of Zion, || Who are comparable with fine gold, || How they have been reckoned earthen bottles, || Work of the hands of a potter. 3Even dragons have drawn out the breast, || They have suckled their young ones, || The daughter of my people has become cruel, || Like the ostriches in a wilderness. 4The tongue of a suckling has cleaved to his palate with thirst, || Infants asked for bread, they have no dealer [of it] out. 5Those eating of delicacies have been desolate in out-places, || Those supported on scarlet have embraced dunghills. 6And greater is the iniquity of the daughter of my people, || Than the sin of Sodom, || That was overturned as [in] a moment, || And no hands were stayed on her. 7Purer were her Nazarites than snow, || Whiter than milk, ruddier of body than rubies, || Of sapphire their form. 8Their face has been darker than blackness, || They have not been known in out-places, || Their skin has cleaved to their bone, || It has withered—it has been as wood. 9Better have been the pierced of a sword || Than the pierced of famine, || For these flow away, pierced through, || Without the increase of the field. 10The hands of merciful women have boiled their own children, || They have been for food to them, || In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
hands: Lamentations 4:3, Lamentations 2:20, 2 Kings 6:26-29
pitiful: Isaiah 49:15
in: Lamentations 3:48, Deuteronomy 28:56, Deuteronomy 28:57, 2 Kings 6:29
Reciprocal: Leviticus 26:29 - General Deuteronomy 28:53 - the fruit 2 Kings 6:28 - Give thy son Psalms 59:15 - for meat Isaiah 8:21 - hardly bestead Isaiah 9:20 - And he Isaiah 22:2 - thy slain Isaiah 36:12 - that they may Jeremiah 4:11 - daughter Jeremiah 6:26 - daughter Jeremiah 15:9 - She that hath Jeremiah 19:9 - eat the Jeremiah 37:21 - until Lamentations 1:20 - abroad Lamentations 2:11 - for Ezekiel 4:16 - eat Ezekiel 5:10 - the fathers Ezekiel 14:13 - break Ezekiel 16:5 - eye Matthew 24:19 - General Mark 13:17 - General Luke 21:23 - woe
Cross-References
Genesis 3:13
And YHWH God says to the woman, "What [is] this you have done?" And the woman says, "The serpent has caused me to forget, and I eat."
And YHWH God says to the woman, "What [is] this you have done?" And the woman says, "The serpent has caused me to forget, and I eat."
Genesis 4:9
And YHWH says to Cain, "Where [is] your brother Abel?" And he says, "I have not known; am I my brother's keeper?"
And YHWH says to Cain, "Where [is] your brother Abel?" And he says, "I have not known; am I my brother's keeper?"
Genesis 4:10
And He says, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground;
And He says, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground;
Genesis 9:5
And only your blood for your lives do I require; from the hand of every living thing I require it, and from the hand of man, from the hand of every man's brother I require the life of man;
And only your blood for your lives do I require; from the hand of every living thing I require it, and from the hand of man, from the hand of every man's brother I require the life of man;
Genesis 18:20
And YHWH says, "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah—because great; and their sin—because exceedingly grievous:
And YHWH says, "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah—because great; and their sin—because exceedingly grievous:
Exodus 3:7
And YHWH says, "I have certainly seen the affliction of My people who [are] in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of its exactors, for I have known its pains;
And YHWH says, "I have certainly seen the affliction of My people who [are] in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of its exactors, for I have known its pains;
Numbers 35:33
And you do not profane the land which you [are] in, for blood profanes the land; as for the land, it is not pardoned for blood which is shed in it except by the blood of him who sheds it;
And you do not profane the land which you [are] in, for blood profanes the land; as for the land, it is not pardoned for blood which is shed in it except by the blood of him who sheds it;
Joshua 7:19
And Joshua says to Achan, "My son, please give glory to YHWH, God of Israel, and give thanks to Him, and now declare to me what you have done—do not hide [it] from me."
And Joshua says to Achan, "My son, please give glory to YHWH, God of Israel, and give thanks to Him, and now declare to me what you have done—do not hide [it] from me."
2 Kings 9:26
Have I not seen the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons last night—a declaration of YHWH—indeed, I have repaid to you in this portion—a declaration of YHWH—and now, lift up, cast him into the portion, according to the word of YHWH."
Have I not seen the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons last night—a declaration of YHWH—indeed, I have repaid to you in this portion—a declaration of YHWH—and now, lift up, cast him into the portion, according to the word of YHWH."
Job 16:18
O earth, do not cover my blood! And let there not be a place for my cry.
O earth, do not cover my blood! And let there not be a place for my cry.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children,.... Such as were naturally, and agreeably to their sex, pitiful and compassionate; merciful to the poor, as the Targum; and especially tenderhearted to their own offspring; yet, by reason of the soreness of the famine, became so cruel and hardhearted, as to take their own children, and slay them with their own hands, cut them to pieces, put them into a pot of water, and make a fire and boil them, and then eat them, as follows:
they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people: at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. This strange and unnatural action was foretold by Moses, Deuteronomy 28:56; and though we have no particular instance of it on record, as done at the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, yet no doubt there was, as may be concluded from the words: and at the siege of it by the Romans, when many things here spoken of had a fuller accomplishment, we have a remarkable instance of it, which Josephus a relates; an illustrious woman, named Mary, pressed with the famine, slew her own son, a sucking child, boiled him, and ate part of him, and laid up the rest; which was found by the seditious party that broke into her house, which struck them with the utmost horror; Deuteronomy 28:56- :.
a De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 3. sect. 4.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Pitiful - i. e. tender-hearted, compassionate. meat is used for food Psalms 69:21. What is here stated actually occurred during the siege of Jerusalem by Titus.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 10. The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children — Lamentations 2:20. But here there is a reference to mothers eating their own children; and this was done, not by mothers cruel and brutal, but by נשים רחמניות nashim rachmaniyoth, the compassionate, the tender-hearted mothers. From these horrible scenes it is well to pass with as hasty a step as possible.
