In the days of her affliction and roaming, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things That she had in the days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, With no one to help her, The adversaries saw her And mocked at her downfall.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that were from the days of old: when her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and no one helped her, The adversaries saw her, they mocked at her desolations.
- KJV Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.
- BSB In the days of her affliction and wandering Jerusalem remembers all the treasures that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands she received no help. Her enemies looked upon her, laughing at her downfall.
- NASB In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her treasures That were hers since the days of old, When her people fell into the hand of the adversary And no one helped her. The adversaries saw her, They laughed at her ruin.
- NLT In the midst of her sadness and wandering, Jerusalem remembers her ancient splendor. But now she has fallen to her enemy, and there is no one to help her. Her enemy struck her down and laughed as she fell.
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
In her misery Jerusalem remembers former blessings while enemies mock her ruin. It shows how memory of past grace deepens present grief.
Overview
Jerusalem recalls her 'pleasant things' from days of old even as adversaries jeer at her downfall with no one to help. The bitter contrast between former glory and present mockery intensifies her lament. This experience of being mocked in affliction foreshadows the suffering of Christ, who was derided yet bore reproach to bring his people lasting help (Psalm 22:7-8).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ps 79:4We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us.
- Deut 4:34–37Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
- Ps 77:5–9I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.
- Ps 42:4These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.
- Lam 4:17Our eyes still fail, looking in vain for our help: In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.
- Hos 2:7She will follow after her lovers, but she won’t overtake them; and she will seek them, but won’t find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.’
- Deut 8:7–9For Yahweh your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills;
- Ps 147:19–20He shows his word to Jacob; his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
- Isa 5:1–4Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.
- Mic 4:11Now many nations have assembled against you, that say, “Let her be defiled, and let our eye gloat over Zion.”
- Luke 15:17But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger!
- Ps 137:3–4For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
- Lam 2:15–16All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?”
- Ps 77:3I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah.
- Job 29:2“Oh that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me;
- Luke 16:25“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish.
- Jer 37:7“Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘You shall tell the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: “Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.
- Deut 4:7–8For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him?
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Christ at the center
The weeping over a ruined city and the steadfast mercies that are new every morning point to the man of sorrows who wept over Jerusalem and whose mercy rises new from the grave.
How Lamentations 1:7 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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