Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion.
Parallel translations
- WEB For though he cause grief, yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
- KJV But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
- NKJV Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies.
- NASB For if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion In proportion to His abundant mercy.
- NLT Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love.
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
Even when God brings grief, He will show compassion, for His covenant love is abundant.
Overview
God's discipline is real, but it is bounded and outweighed by His vast mercy. The 'multitude of his loving kindnesses' (Hebrew hesed) points to His steadfast covenant love. This pairing of grief and compassion finds its fullest expression at the cross, where judgment and mercy meet in Christ (Rom. 8:32).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 78:38And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.
- Ps 30:5For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.
- Ps 103:11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.
- Hos 11:8How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I surrender you, O Israel? How could I make you like Admah? How could I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within Me; My compassion is stirred!
- Ps 106:43–45Many times He rescued them, but they were bent on rebellion and sank down in their iniquity.
- Judg 10:16So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.
- Exod 3:7The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
- Jer 31:20Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.
- Luke 15:20So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
- 2 Kgs 13:23But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.
- Lam 3:22Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
- Exod 2:23After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 3:32 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.