Let him put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.
Parallel translations
- KJV He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.
- BSB Let him bury his face in the dust—perhaps there is still hope.
- NKJV Let him put his mouth in the dust— There may yet be hope.
- NASB Let him put his mouth in the dust; Perhaps there is hope.
- NLT Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last.
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
Deep humility before God ('mouth in the dust') is fitting, and even then there may still be hope.
Overview
To put one's mouth in the dust pictures utter lowliness and self-abasement before the Lord. The poet holds out the possibility ('if so be there may be hope') that God may yet show mercy. Such humbling that clings to hope anticipates the gospel pattern: those who humble themselves God exalts (Luke 18:13-14; James 4:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Job 40:4“Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
- Joel 2:14Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God.
- Luke 18:13But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
- 2 Chr 33:12When he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
- Luke 15:18–19I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
- Jer 31:17There is hope for your latter end,” says Yahweh; “and your children shall come again to their own border.
- Jonah 3:9Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?”
- Job 42:5–6I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.
- Zeph 2:3Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the land, who have kept his ordinances. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of Yahweh’s anger.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.
- Ezek 16:63that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done,” says the Lord Yahweh.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:29 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.