And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.
Parallel translations
- WEB You have removed my soul far off from peace; I forgot prosperity.
- BSB My soul has been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.
- NKJV You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity.
- NASB My soul has been excluded from peace; I have forgotten happiness.
- NLT Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is.
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
His soul is robbed of peace until he forgets what prosperity feels like. It voices the loss of all sense of well-being.
Overview
So prolonged is his suffering that he has 'forgotten prosperity,' his soul far removed from peace. The verse marks the lowest point of the lament before hope breaks in. This deep absence of peace heightens the wonder of the gospel, for Christ is our peace, reconciling us to God and giving a peace the world cannot take away (John 14:27; Ephesians 2:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 59:11We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.
- Isa 38:17Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
- Ps 119:155Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.
- Isa 54:10For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
- Job 7:7O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.
- Jer 8:15We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
- Jer 16:5For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.
- Jer 20:14–18Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
- Gen 41:30And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
- Lam 1:16For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.
- Jer 14:19Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!
- Zech 8:10For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 3:17 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.