He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let him put 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 40:4Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
- Joel 2:14Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
- Luke 18:13And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
- 2 Chr 33:12And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
- Luke 15:18–19I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
- Jer 31:17And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
- Jonah 3:9Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
- Job 42:5–6I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
- Zeph 2:3Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.
- Rom 3:19Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
- Ezek 16:63That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.
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.