For though he cause grief, yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
Parallel translations
- KJV But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
- BSB Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion.
- 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 78:38But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his wrath.
- Ps 30:5For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
- Ps 103:11For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.
- Hos 11:8“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within me, my compassion is aroused.
- Ps 106:43–45He rescued them many times, but they were rebellious in their counsel, and were brought low in their iniquity.
- Judg 10:16They put away the foreign gods from among them, and served Yahweh; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
- Exod 3:7Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.
- Jer 31:20Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him,” says Yahweh.
- Luke 15:20“He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
- 2 Kgs 13:23But Yahweh was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect for them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, and he didn’t cast them from his presence as yet.
- Lam 3:22It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail.
- Exod 2:23In the course of those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
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 3:32 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.