We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
Parallel translations
- WEB We get our bread at the peril of our lives, Because of the sword of the wilderness.
- BSB We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.
- NKJV We get our bread at the risk of our lives, Because of the sword in the wilderness.
- NASB We get our bread at the risk of our lives Because of the sword in the wilderness.
- NLT We hunt for food at the risk of our lives, for violence rules the countryside.
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
Even gathering food has become deadly, because raiders and the sword threaten anyone who ventures out. It shows how the siege and its aftermath have stripped away even basic security.
Overview
The survivors of Jerusalem must risk their lives merely to obtain bread, hunted by 'the sword of the wilderness'—roving marauders in the open country. The most ordinary act of provision has become a matter of life and death, exposing the depth of Judah's exposure after the fall. The verse reminds us that life apart from the Lord's protection is precarious; ultimately Christ is the true Bread who gives life that no enemy can take (John 6:35).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ezek 4:16–17Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:
- Ezek 12:18–19Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness;
- Jer 40:9–12And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
- Jer 41:18Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.
- Jer 41:1–10Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.
- Jer 42:16Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
- 2 Sam 23:17And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.
- Jer 42:14Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
- Judg 6:11And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
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 5:9 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.