He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.
Parallel translations
- WEB He has cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel; He has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy: He has burned up Jacob like a flaming fire, which devours all around.
- BSB In fierce anger He has cut off every horn of Israel and withdrawn His right hand at the approach of the enemy. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it.
- NKJV He has cut off in fierce anger Every horn of Israel; He has drawn back His right hand From before the enemy. He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire Devouring all around.
- NASB In fierce anger He has cut off All the strength of Israel; He has pulled back His right hand From the enemy. And He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire Consuming on all sides.
- NLT All the strength of Israel vanishes beneath his fierce anger. The Lord has withdrawn his protection as the enemy attacks. He consumes the whole land of Israel like a raging fire.
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 fierce anger God broke Israel's strength and withdrew his protecting hand before the enemy. It shows the LORD removing the help that once defended his people.
Overview
The 'horn' symbolizes strength, now cut off, and God's right hand, which once fought for Israel, is drawn back, leaving Jacob to burn like consuming fire. Divine protection withdrawn is itself an act of judgment. This sobering picture underscores the security believers have in Christ, from whose hand none can snatch his own (John 10:28-29).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Ps 74:11Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.
- Ps 75:10All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
- Isa 42:25Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.
- Ps 75:5Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
- Ps 89:46How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
- Ps 79:5How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
- Jer 48:25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD.
- Isa 1:31And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
- Jer 21:4–5Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
- Jer 4:4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
- Ps 89:24But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
- Ps 132:17There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.
- Mal 4:1For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
- Job 16:15I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.
- Deut 32:22For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
- Jer 21:14But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.
- Luke 1:69And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
- Jer 7:20Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
- Luke 3:17Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
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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 2:3 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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