Lamentations 2:20

See thou, Lord, and behold, whom thou hast made so bare; therefore whether women shall eat their fruit, (their) little children at the measure of an hand? for a priest and prophet is slain in the saintuary of the Lord. (See thou, Lord, and behold, they whom thou hast made so bare; and so shall women eat their own fruit, their own little children at the measure of an hand? shall a priest and a prophet be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?)

Wycliffe Modern Spelling

In The King James Version

Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

In Context

19Rise thou together, praise thou in the night, in the beginning of wakings; shed out thine heart as water, before the sight of the Lord, (or Rise thou up, praise thou in the night, at the beginning of every watch; pour out thy heart like water, before the Lord); raise thine hands to him for the souls of thy little children, that failed for hunger in the head of all (the) meetings of (the) ways.

21A child and an eld man lie on the earth withoutforth; my virgins and my young men fell down by sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thy strong vengeance, thou smotest and didest no mercy. (A child and an old man lie on the ground outside; my virgins and my young men fell down by the sword; thou hast killed them on the day of thy strong vengeance, thou struck them down, and showed no mercy.)

Read all of Lamentations 2

Cross References

Exodus 32:11Forsooth Moses prayed the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why is thy vengeance wroth against thy people, whom thou hast led out of the land of Egypt in great strength, and in a strong hand? (But Moses prayed to the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why be thou so angry for vengeance against thy people, whom thou hast led out of the land of Egypt with great strength, and with a strong hand?)

Deuteronomy 9:26And I prayed him, and said, Lord God, destroy not thy people, and thine heritage, which thou again-boughtest in thy greatness, which thou leddest out of Egypt in (a) strong hand. (And I prayed to him, and said, Lord God, do not destroy thy people, and thy inheritance, whom thou hast bought back, or hast redeemed, or ransomed, by thy great power, and whom thou hast led out of Egypt with thy strong hand.)

2 Kings 6:28And the king said to her, What wilt thou that I do to thee? (or What wilt thou that I do for thee?) And she answered, This woman said to me, Give thy son, that we eat him today, and we shall eat my son tomorrow.

Psalms 78:64The priests of them fell down by sword; and the widows of them were not bewept. (Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows did not weep for them.)

Isaiah 63:16Forsooth thou art our father, and Abraham knew not us, and Israel knew not us. Thou, Lord, art our father, and our again-buyer; thy name is from the world. (For thou art our father, though Abraham knew us not, and Israel, or Jacob, knew us not. Thou, Lord, art our father, and our Redeemer; thy name is from forever.)

Jeremiah 5:31prophets prophesied leasing, and priests joyed with their hands, and my people loved such things. What therefore shall be done in the last thing thereof? (prophets prophesied lies, and the priests clapped their hands, and my people loved such things. And so what shall be done in its last things, or at the end of it all?)

Matthew Henry on Lamentations 2:11-22

Complicated Sorrows. ( b. c. 588.) 10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground. 11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city. 12 They say to their mothers, Where is corn… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Lamentations 2:20