Lamentations 1:20

THE MESSAGE

"O God , look at the trouble I'm in! My stomach in knots, my heart wrecked by a life of rebellion. Massacres in the streets, starvation in the houses.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Lord, see how I am in distress.I am churning within;my heart is broken,for I have been very rebellious.Outside, the sword takes the children;inside, there is death.

Hebrew Names Version
See, LORD; for I am in distress; my heart is troubled; My heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: Abroad the sword bereaves, at home there is as death.

King James Version
Behold, O Lord ; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.

English Standard Version
"Look, O Lord , for I am in distress; my stomach churns; my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death.

New American Standard Bible
"See, LORD, for I am in distress; My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is overturned within me, For I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword has made women childless; In the house it is like death.

New Century Version
"Look at me, Lord . I am upset and greatly troubled. My heart is troubled, because I have been so stubborn. Out in the streets, the sword kills; inside the houses, death destroys.

Amplified Bible
"See, O LORD, how distressed I am! My spirit is deeply disturbed; My heart is overturned within me and cannot rest, For I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword kills and bereaves; In the house there is [famine, disease and] death!

World English Bible
See, Yahweh; for I am in distress; my heart is troubled; My heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: Abroad the sword bereaves, at home there is as death.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Behold, O Lorde, howe I am troubled: my bowels swell: mine heart is turned within me, for I am ful of heauinesse: the sword spoyleth abroad, as death doeth at home.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"See, O LORD, for I am in distress; My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is overturned within me, For I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword slays; In the house it is like death.

Legacy Standard Bible
See, O Yahweh, for I am in distress;My inmost being is greatly disturbed;My heart is overturned within me,For I have been very rebellious.In the street the sword bereaves;In the house it is like death.

Berean Standard Bible
Behold, O LORD, how distressed I am. I am churning within; my heart is overturned, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.

Contemporary English Version
Won't you look and see how upset I am, our Lord ? My stomach is in knots, and my heart is broken because I betrayed you. In the streets and at home, my people are slaughtered.

Complete Jewish Bible
"See, Adonai , how distressed I am! Everything in me is churning! My heart turns over inside me, because I have been so rebellious. Outside, the sword brings bereavement; inside, it is like death.

Darby Translation
See, Jehovah, for I am in distress, my bowels are troubled; my heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled: without, the sword hath bereaved [me], within, it is as death.

Easy-to-Read Version
"Look at me, Lord . I am in distress! I am upset, as if my heart turned upside down inside of me. I feel this way because I have been so stubborn. Out in the streets, I lost my children to the swords. Inside, it is like death.

George Lamsa Translation
Behold, O LORD, I am in distress; my soul is troubled, my heart is in pain; for I have grievously rebelled; outside the sword devours, and those who are in the house death consumes.

Good News Translation
"Look, O Lord , at my agony, at the anguish of my soul! My heart is broken in sorrow for my sins. There is murder in the streets; even indoors there is death.

Lexham English Bible
See, O Yahweh, that I am in distress; my stomach is in torment, my heart has turned inside me because I have certainly rebelled. From outside a sword brings bereavement, inside the house it is like death.

Literal Translation
Behold, O Jehovah, for I am distressed. My inward parts ferment; my heart is overturned within me; for I have grievously rebelled. On the outside the sword bereaves; in the house it is as death.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Considre (O LORDE) how I am troubled, my wombe is disquieted, my herte turneth aboute in me, and I am full of heuynes. The swearde hurteth me without, and within I am like vnto death.

American Standard Version
Behold, O Jehovah; for I am in distress; my heart is troubled; My heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.

Bible in Basic English
See, O Lord, for I am in trouble; the inmost parts of my body are deeply moved; my heart is turned in me; for I have been uncontrolled: outside the children are put to the sword, and in the house there is death.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Behold, O LORD, for I am in distress, mine inwards burn; my heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled. Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is the like of death.

King James Version (1611)
Behold, O Lord: for I am in distresse: my bowels are troubled: mine heart is turned within mee, for I haue grieuously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaueth, at home there is as death.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Consider (O Lorde) howe I am troubled, my wombe is disquieted, my heart turneth about in me, and I am full of heauinesse, because I rebelled stubburnly: the sworde hurteth me without, and within I am lyke vnto death.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
RHECHS. Behold, O Lord; for I am afflicted: my belly is troubled, and my heart is turned within me; for I have been grievously rebellious: abroad the sword has bereaved me, even as death at home.

English Revised Version
Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress; my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Res. Se thou, Lord, for Y am troblid, my wombe is disturblid; myn herte is distried in my silf, for Y am ful of bittirnesse; swerd sleeth with outforth, and lijk deth is at hoome.

Update Bible Version
Look, O Yahweh; for I am in distress; my insides are troubled; My heart is turned inside me; for I have grievously rebelled: Abroad the sword bereaves, at home there is as death.

Webster's Bible Translation
Behold, O LORD; for I [am] in distress: my bowels are troubled; my heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home [there is] as death.

New English Translation

ר (Resh)

Look, O Lord ! I am distressed; my stomach is in knots! My heart is pounding inside me. Yes, I was terribly rebellious! Out in the street the sword bereaves a mother of her children; Inside the house death is present.

New King James Version
"See, O LORD, that I am in distress; My soul is troubled; My heart is overturned within me, For I have been very rebellious. Outside the sword bereaves, At home it is like death.

New Living Translation
" Lord , see my anguish! My heart is broken and my soul despairs, for I have rebelled against you. In the streets the sword kills, and at home there is only death.

New Life Bible
See how I suffer, O Lord. My spirit is very troubled. My heart has no rest within me, for I have not obeyed. The sword kills in the street. In the house there is only death.

New Revised Standard
See, O Lord , how distressed I am; my stomach churns, my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
See, O Yahweh, that I am in distress, Mine inward parts, are in ferment, My heart is turned within me, for I have obstinately rebelled, - Without, bereaveth the sword, Within, is like death,

Douay-Rheims Bible
Res. Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress, my bowels are troubled: my heart is turned within me, for I am full of bitterness: abroad the sword destroyeth and at home there is death alike.

Revised Standard Version
"Behold, O LORD, for I am in distress, my soul is in tumult, my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death.

Young's Literal Translation
See, O Jehovah, for distress [is] to me, My bowels have been troubled, Turned hath been my heart in my midst, For I have greatly provoked, From without bereaved hath the sword, In the house [it is] as death.

Contextual Overview

¹² "And you passersby, look at me! Have you ever seen anything like this? Ever seen pain like my pain, seen what he did to me, what God did to me in his rage? ¹³ "He struck me with lightning, skewered me from head to foot, then he set traps all around so I could hardly move. He left me with nothing—left me sick, and sick of living. ¹⁴ "He wove my sins into a rope and harnessed me to captivity's yoke. I'm goaded by cruel taskmasters. ¹⁵ "The Master piled up my best soldiers in a heap, then called in thugs to break their fine young necks. The Master crushed the life out of fair virgin Judah. ¹⁶ "For all this I weep, weep buckets of tears, and not a soul within miles around cares for my soul. My children are wasted, my enemy got his way." ¹⁷ Zion reached out for help, but no one helped. God ordered Jacob's enemies to surround him, and now no one wants anything to do with Jerusalem. ¹⁸ " God has right on his side. I'm the one who did wrong. Listen everybody! Look at what I'm going through! My fair young women, my fine young men, all herded into exile! ¹⁹ "I called to my friends; they betrayed me. My priests and my leaders only looked after themselves, trying but failing to save their own skins. ²⁰ "O God , look at the trouble I'm in! My stomach in knots, my heart wrecked by a life of rebellion. Massacres in the streets, starvation in the houses. ²¹ "Oh, listen to my groans. No one listens, no one cares. When my enemies heard of the trouble you gave me, they cheered. Bring on Judgment Day! Let them get what I got!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Behold: Lamentations 1:9, Lamentations 1:11, Isaiah 38:14

my bowels: Lamentations 2:11, Job 30:27, Psalms 22:14, Isaiah 16:11, Jeremiah 4:19, Jeremiah 31:20, Jeremiah 48:36, Hosea 11:8, Habakkuk 3:16

for: Lamentations 1:18, Leviticus 26:40-42, 1 Kings 8:47-50, Job 33:27, Psalms 51:3, Psalms 51:4, Proverbs 28:13, Jeremiah 2:35, Jeremiah 3:13, Luke 15:18, Luke 15:19, Luke 18:13, Luke 18:14

abroad: Lamentations 4:9, Lamentations 4:10, Deuteronomy 32:25, Jeremiah 9:21, Jeremiah 9:22, Jeremiah 14:18, Ezekiel 7:15

Reciprocal: Job 10:15 - see Isaiah 63:10 - they rebelled Jeremiah 4:31 - because Lamentations 1:8 - hath Lamentations 5:1 - Remember Ezekiel 14:13 - when

Cross-References

Genesis 1:14
God spoke: "Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven's sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth." And there it was.

Genesis 1:24
God spoke: "Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind: cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds." And there it was: wild animals of every kind, Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug. God saw that it was good.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Behold, O Lord, for I [am] in distress,.... Thus she turns from one to another; sometimes she addresses strangers, people that pass by; sometimes she calls to her lovers; and at other times to God, which is best of all, to have pity and compassion on her in her distress; and from whom it may be most expected, who is a God of grace and mercy:

my bowels are troubled; as the sea, agitated by winds, which casts up mire and dirt; or as any waters, moved by anything whatsoever, become thick and muddy; or like wine in fermentation; so the word l, in the Arabic language, signifies, expressive of great disturbance, confusion, and uneasiness:

mine heart is turned within me; has no rest nor peace:

for I have grievously rebelled; against God and his word; her sins were greatly aggravated, and these lay heavy on her mind and conscience, and greatly distressed her:

abroad the sword bereaveth; this, and what follows in the next clause, describe the state and condition of the Jews, while the city was besieged; without it, the sword of the Chaldeans bereaved mothers of their children, and children of their parents, and left them desolate:

at home [there is] as death; within the city, and in the houses of it, the famine raged, which was as death, and worse than immediate death; it was a lingering one: or, "in the house [was] certain death" m; for the "caph" here is not a mere note of similitude, but of certainty and reality; to abide at home was sure and certain death, nothing else could be expected. The Targum is

"within the famine kills like the destroying angel that is appointed over death;''

see Hebrews 2:14; and Jarchi interprets it of the fear of demons and noxious spirits, and the angels of death.

l "fermentavit, commiscuit, alteravit, turbavique [mentem]", Castel. col. 1294. m בבית כמות "in domo mors ipsa", Munster; "plane mors"; Junius & Tremellius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Troubled - Or, inflamed with sorrow.

Turned within me - Agitated violently.

At home there is as death - i. e. “in the house” there are pale pining forms, wasting with hunger, and presenting the appearance of death.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 20. Abroad the sword bereaveth — WAR is through the country; and at home death; the pestilence and famine rage in the city; calamity in every shape is fallen upon me.

Virgil represents the calamities of Troy under the same image: -

______ Nec soli poenas dant sanguine Teucri:

Quondam etiam victis redit in praecordia virtus;

Victoresque cadunt Danai. Crudelis ubique

Luctus, ubique Pavor, et plurima mortis imago.

AEneid. lib. ii. 366.

"Not only Trojans fall; but, in their turn,

The vanquished triumph, and the victors mourn.

Ours take new courage from despair and night;

Confused the fortune is, confused the fight.

All parts resound with tumults, plaints, and fears;

And grisly death in sundry shapes appears."

DRYDEN.

So Milton -

"_____________________ Despair

Tended the sick, busiest from couch to couch;

And over them triumphant Death his dart Shook."

Par. Lost, B. xi. 489.

Jeremiah, Jeremiah 9:21, uses the same image: -

Death is come up into our windows:

He hath entered our palaces,

To cut off the infants without,

And the young men in our streets.

So Silius Italicus, II. 548: -

Mors graditur, vasto pandens cava guttura rletu,

Casuroque inhians populo.

"Death stalks along, and opens his hideous throat to

gulp down the people."