The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh’s anger has scattered them; he will no more regard them: They didn’t respect the persons of the priests, they didn’t favor the elders.
- BSB The presence of the LORD has scattered them; He regards them no more. The priests are shown no honor; the elders find no favor.
- NKJV The face of the Lord scattered them; He no longer regards them. The people do not respect the priests Nor show favor to the elders.
- NASB The presence of the Lord has scattered them, He will not continue to look at them; They did not honor the priests, They did not favor the elders.
- NLT The Lord himself has scattered them, and he no longer helps them. People show no respect for the priests and no longer honor the leaders.
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
The Lord Himself has scattered them and no longer regards them, because they dishonored priests and elders.
Overview
God's anger has dispersed the people, and He withdraws His favor from those who showed no respect for His appointed leaders. The judgment falls in part for despising the offices God established. This reminds us that contempt for God's order is serious, and it magnifies the grace by which God still regards sinners in Christ (Ps. 51:11; Eph. 2:4-5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Lam 5:12Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.
- Isa 9:14–16Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
- Deut 32:26I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
- Jer 24:9And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
- Deut 28:25The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Heb 8:9Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
- Deut 28:64–65And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
- Jer 15:4And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
- Lev 26:33–39And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
- 2 Chr 36:17Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
- Ps 106:44Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
- 2 Kgs 25:18–21And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
- Gen 49:7Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
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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 4:16 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.