Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.
Parallel translations
- WEB They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause.
- BSB Without cause my enemies hunted me like a bird.
- ESV “I have been hunted like a bird by those who were my enemies without cause;
- NKJV My enemies without cause Hunted me down like a bird.
- NASB My enemies without reason Hunted me down like a bird;
- NLT My enemies, whom I have never harmed, hunted me down like a bird.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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 enemies have hunted him relentlessly without cause.
Overview
The poet, perhaps speaking for the faithful remnant or the city, describes being chased like a hunted bird by groundless foes. The phrase 'enemies without cause' marks the injustice of the persecution. This experience is taken up messianically of Christ, who said 'They hated me without a cause' (Ps. 69:4; John 15:25).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 35:19Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.
- Ps 35:7For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.
- Jer 38:4–6Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
- 1 Sam 24:10–15Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’s anointed.
- 1 Sam 25:28–29I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
- Ps 69:4They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
- Jer 37:15–16Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.
- Ps 109:3They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.
- John 15:25But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
- Ps 119:161Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
- 1 Sam 26:18–20And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand?
- Ps 11:1In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
- Jer 37:18Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison?
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 3:52 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.