New Living Translation
Lamentations 4:5
5The people who once ate the richest foods now beg in the streets for anything they can get. Those who once wore the finest clothes now search the garbage dumps for food.
Lamentations 4:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
- New International Version (NIV)Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets. Those brought up in royal purple now lie on ash heaps.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple embrace ash heaps.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those who were brought up in scarlet Embrace ash heaps.
Context of Lamentations 4:5
3Even the jackals feed their young, but not my people Israel. They ignore their children’s cries, like ostriches in the desert. 4The parched tongues of their little ones stick to the roofs of their mouths in thirst. The children cry for bread, but no one has any to give them. The people who once ate the richest foods now beg in the streets for anything they can get. Those who once wore the finest clothes now search the garbage dumps for food. 6The guilt of my people is greater than that of Sodom, where utter disaster struck in a moment and no hand offered help. 7Our princes once glowed with health— brighter than snow, whiter than milk. Their faces were as ruddy as rubies, their appearance like fine jewels.
Read all of Lamentations 4Lamentations 4:5 word by word
הָאֹֽכְלִים֙ לְמַ֣עֲדַנִּ֔ים נָשַׁ֖מּוּ בַּחוּצ֑וֹת הָאֱמֻנִים֙ עֲלֵ֣י תוֹלָ֔ע חִבְּק֖וּ אַשְׁפַּתּֽוֹת׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- They that did feedאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- delicatelyמַעֲדָןma‛ădân ma‛ădannâh · delicacyH4574
- are desolateשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: destroyedH8074
- in the streetsחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
- they that were brought upאָמַן'âman · be faithfulH539
- in scarletתּוֹלָעtôlâ‛ tôlê‛âh tôla‛ath tôla‛ath · wormH8438
- embraceחָבַקchâbaq · to embraceH2263
- dunghillsאַשְׁפֹּת'ashpôth 'ashpôth shephôth · refuseH830
Cross-references for Lamentations 4:5
- Deuteronomy 28:54The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children.
- Isaiah 3:16The Lord says, “Beautiful Zion is haughty: craning her elegant neck, flirting with her eyes, walking with dainty steps, tinkling her ankle bracelets.
- Isaiah 24:6Therefore, a curse consumes the earth. Its people must pay the price for their sin. They are destroyed by fire, and only a few are left alive.
- Isaiah 32:9Listen, you women who lie around in ease. Listen to me, you who are so smug.
- Jeremiah 6:2O Jerusalem, you are my beautiful and delicate daughter— but I will destroy you!
- Amos 6:3You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer.
- Luke 7:25Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people who wear beautiful clothes and live in luxury are found in palaces.
- 1 Timothy 5:6But the widow who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead even while she lives.
- Revelation 18:7She glorified herself and lived in luxury, so match it now with torment and sorrow. She boasted in her heart, ‘I am queen on my throne. I am no helpless widow, and I have no reason to mourn.’
- 2 Samuel 1:24O women of Israel, weep for Saul, for he dressed you in luxurious scarlet clothing, in garments decorated with gold.
- Proverbs 31:21She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm clothes.
- Luke 16:19Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury.
- Job 24:8They are soaked by mountain showers, and they huddle against the rocks for want of a home.
- Jeremiah 9:21For death has crept in through our windows and has entered our mansions. It has killed off the flower of our youth: Children no longer play in the streets, and young men no longer gather in the squares.
- Luke 15:16The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
Commentaries on Lamentations 4:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Embrace dunghills - Lie on straw or rubbish, instead of the costly carpets and sofas on which they formerly stretched themselves.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5They that were brought up in scarlet - literally, “those that were carried upon scarlet;” young children in arms and of the highest birth now lie on the dirt-heaps of the city.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-22Although God’s people still experience his judgment, they will soon experience restoration.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. delicately--on dainties. are desolate--or, "perish." in scarlet embrace dunghills--Instead of the scarlet couches on which the grandees were nursed, they must lie on dunghills. embrace--They who once shrank sensitively from any soil, gladly cling close to heaps of filth as their only resting-place. Compare "embrace the rock" (Job 24:8). Vau.Read the comment
Topics related to Lamentations 4:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Lamentations 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries