Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets; those brought up in crimson huddle in ash heaps.
Parallel translations
- WEB Those who fed delicately are desolate in the streets: Those who were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
- KJV They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
- NKJV Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those who were brought up in scarlet Embrace ash heaps.
- NASB Those who used to eat delicacies Are made to tremble in the streets; Those who were raised in crimson clothing Embrace garbage heaps.
- NLT The people who once ate the richest foods now beg in the streets for anything they can get. Those who once wore the finest clothes now search the garbage dumps for food.
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
Those once raised in luxury now lie destitute in the streets and cling to refuse heaps.
Overview
The wealthy who feasted on delicacies and wore scarlet are reduced to scavenging on dunghills. The reversal of fortune underscores how completely judgment has overturned Jerusalem's prosperity. It warns against trusting in riches and points to the lasting riches found only in Christ (Luke 16:25; Matt. 6:19-20).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Luke 16:19Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.
- Prov 31:21When it snows, she has no fear for her household, for they are all clothed in scarlet.
- Amos 6:3–7You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence.
- Luke 15:16He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.
- Isa 24:6–12Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.
- 1 Tim 5:6But she who lives for pleasure is dead even while she is still alive.
- 2 Sam 1:24O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and luxury, who decked your garments with ornaments of gold.
- Luke 7:25Otherwise, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear elegant clothing and live in luxury are found in palaces.
- Rev 18:7–9As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’
- Deut 28:54–56The most gentle and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children who have survived,
- Isa 3:16–26The LORD also says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty—walking with heads held high and wanton eyes, prancing and skipping as they go, jingling the bracelets on their ankles—
- Jer 6:2–3Though she is beautiful and delicate, I will destroy the Daughter of Zion.
- Isa 32:9–14Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters.
- Jer 9:21–22For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.
- Job 24:8Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.
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 4:5 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.