Why did I come out of the womb to see only trouble and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?
Parallel translations
- WEB Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
- KJV Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
- NKJV Why did I come forth from the womb to see labor and sorrow, That my days should be consumed with shame?
- NASB Why did I ever come out of the womb To look at trouble and sorrow, So that my days have been spent in shame?
- NLT Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame.
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
Jeremiah asks why he was born only to face labor, sorrow, and lifelong shame. The lament ends with an unanswered question rather than resolution.
Overview
This closing question of Jeremiah's most despairing lament leaves his anguish raw and unresolved, a sober honesty Scripture does not edit out. The prophet's life of rejection foreshadows the suffering of God's faithful servants and ultimately of Christ, who was despised and acquainted with grief. For the believer it teaches that faithfulness is not always rewarded with present comfort, yet God's larger redemptive purpose gives meaning even to lives marked by sorrow and shame.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Job 3:20Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
- Job 14:1“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
- Lam 3:1I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath.
- 1 Pet 4:14–16If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
- Ps 69:19You know my reproach, my shame and disgrace. All my adversaries are before You.
- 1 Cor 4:9–13For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death. We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as well as to men.
- Ps 90:9–10For all our days decline in Your fury; we finish our years with a sigh.
- Job 14:13If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me!
- Lam 1:12Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see! Is there any sorrow like mine, which was inflicted on me, which the LORD made me suffer on the day of His fierce anger?
- 2 Tim 1:12For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.
- Heb 11:36Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
- Heb 13:13Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore.
- Acts 5:41The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
- Heb 10:36You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.
- Isa 51:7Listen to Me, you who know what is right, you people with My law in your hearts: Do not fear the scorn of men; do not be broken by their insults.
- John 16:20Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
- Gen 3:16–19To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
- Heb 12:2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Isa 1:6From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and festering sores neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.
- Jer 8:18My sorrow is beyond healing; my heart is faint within me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 20:18 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.