“Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Judah mourns, and its gates languish, they sit in black on the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
- KJV Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
- NKJV “Judah mourns, And her gates languish; They mourn for the land, And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
- NASB “Judah mourns And her gates languish; Her people sit on the ground in mourning garments, And the cry of Jerusalem has ascended.
- NLT “Judah wilts; commerce at the city gates grinds to a halt. All the people sit on the ground in mourning, and a great cry rises from Jerusalem.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Judah mourns as her cities languish and the cry of Jerusalem rises up.
Overview
The whole land grieves under the drought's affliction, sitting in mourning on the ground. The 'cry of Jerusalem' going up depicts the people's distress reaching toward heaven. This communal lament reflects creation and society suffering under the weight of judgment for sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Isa 3:26And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
- Jer 8:21For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.
- 1 Sam 5:12Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
- Zech 7:13And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Lam 4:8–9But now their appearance is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick.
- Jer 11:11Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them.
- Jer 18:22Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.
- Joel 1:10The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.
- Lam 2:9Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
- Isa 15:5My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath-shelishiyah. With weeping they ascend the slope of Luhith; they lament their destruction on the road to Horonaim.
- Job 34:28They caused the cry of the poor to come before Him, and He heard the outcry of the afflicted.
- Hos 4:3Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.
- Lam 5:10Our skin is as hot as an oven with fever from our hunger.
- Jer 12:4How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”
- 1 Sam 9:16“At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him leader over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”
- Isa 24:4The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away.
- Joel 2:6Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.
- Isa 5:7For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.
- Jer 4:28Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above will grow dark. I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back.”
- Exod 2:24So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Isa 24:7The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan.
- Isa 33:9The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 14:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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