Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
Parallel translations
- WEB Our fathers sinned, and are no more; We have borne their iniquities.
- BSB Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment.
- NKJV Our fathers sinned and are no more, But we bear their iniquities.
- NASB Our fathers sinned, and are gone; It is we who have been burdened with the punishment for their wrongdoings.
- NLT Our ancestors sinned, but they have died— and we are suffering the punishment they deserved!
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
They confess bearing the consequences of their fathers' sins, now that those fathers are gone.
Overview
The people acknowledge suffering for the accumulated iniquity of previous generations, who have died. This recognizes the corporate and generational reach of sin's consequences, though Scripture also affirms each person answers for his own sin (Ezek. 18:20). The verse honestly owns the weight of inherited guilt, which points to the one Mediator who bears sin's full burden for His people (Rom. 5:18-19).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jer 16:12And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
- Jer 31:29In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
- Ezek 18:2What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?
- Jer 14:20We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
- Exod 20:5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
- Jer 31:15Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
- Gen 42:36And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.
- Matt 23:32–36Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
- Job 7:21And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.
- Job 7:8The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.
- Zech 1:5Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?
- Gen 42:13And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
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 5:7 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.