But now their appearance is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick.
Parallel translations
- WEB Their appearance is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: Their skin clings to their bones; it is withered, it has become like a stick.
- KJV Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.
- NKJV Now their appearance is blacker than soot; They go unrecognized in the streets; Their skin clings to their bones, It has become as dry as wood.
- NASB Their appearance is darker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin is shriveled on their bones, It is dry, it has become like wood.
- NLT But now their faces are blacker than soot. No one recognizes them in the streets. Their skin sticks to their bones; it is as dry and hard as wood.
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
Now those same nobles are blackened, gaunt, and unrecognizable from famine.
Overview
In sharp contrast to verse 7, the once-radiant leaders are now darkened, skin shriveled on their bones, unknown in the streets. The famine has wasted them beyond recognition. This dramatic reversal portrays the wages of sin and the wasting effects of judgment, deepening the longing for the restoration God provides in Christ (Rom. 6:23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Lam 5:10Our skin is as hot as an oven with fever from our hunger.
- Job 30:30My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
- Ps 102:3–5For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
- Ps 119:83Though I am like a wineskin dried up by smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.
- Job 19:20My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
- Ps 102:11My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.
- Isa 52:14Just as many were appalled at Him—His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man, and His form was marred beyond human likeness—
- Joel 2:6Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.
- Job 33:21His flesh wastes away from sight, and his hidden bones protrude.
- Ps 32:4For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was drained as in the summer heat. Selah
- Lam 4:1–2How the gold has become tarnished, the pure gold has become dull! The gems of the temple lie scattered on every street corner.
- Ruth 1:19–20So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred because of them, and the women of the city exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
- Ps 38:3There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin.
- Job 2:12When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.
- Job 30:17–19Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
- Nah 2:10She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
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 4:8 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.