You fed them with the bread of tears and made them drink the full measure of their tears.
Parallel translations
- WEB You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in large measure.
- KJV Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.
- NKJV You have fed them with the bread of tears, And given them tears to drink in great measure.
- NASB You have fed them with the bread of tears, And You have made them drink tears in large measure.
- NLT You have fed us with sorrow and made us drink tears by the bucketful.
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 fed His people with tears as their daily bread and drink. Their sorrow is pictured as constant and overwhelming.
Overview
The vivid image of eating and drinking tears conveys grief that fills every part of life (cf. Ps. 42:3). The psalmist recognizes that this suffering comes from God's hand as discipline, not random misfortune. Yet by bringing this sorrow to God in prayer, Israel keeps trusting the One who alone can turn their tears to joy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Ps 42:3My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?”
- Isa 30:20The Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but your Teacher will no longer hide Himself—with your own eyes you will see Him.
- Ps 102:9For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears
- Ezek 4:16–17Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure.
- Job 6:7My soul refuses to touch them; they are loathsome food to me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 80:5 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.