Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.
Parallel translations
- WEB You have made us like sheep for food, and have scattered us among the nations.
- BSB You have given us up as sheep to be devoured; You have scattered us among the nations.
- NKJV You have given us up like sheep intended for food, And have scattered us among the nations.
- NASB You turn us over to be eaten like sheep, And have scattered us among the nations.
- NLT You have butchered us like sheep and scattered us among the nations.
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
God has made His people like sheep for slaughter and scattered them among the nations. It matters because it laments suffering that feels like divine handing-over.
Overview
The imagery of sheep for food and scattering among the nations describes devastating loss, possibly exile. The people see God's hand even in their calamity. Paul later quotes the parallel verse 22 to describe the suffering of believers, who in Christ are more than conquerors even when led as sheep to the slaughter.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Deut 4:27And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.
- Deut 28:64And 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.
- Rom 8:36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
- Ezek 34:12As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
- Jer 32:37Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
- Isa 11:11–12And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
- Ps 14:4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
- Ps 60:1O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.
- Ps 106:27To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.
- Jer 12:3But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
- 2 Kgs 17:6In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
- Luke 21:24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 44:11 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.