Lamentations 1:21

Verse

People have heard my groaning, but there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that You have caused it. May You bring the day You have announced, so that they may become like me.

American Standard Version (1901)

They have heard that I sigh; there is none to comfort me; All mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: Thou wilt bring the day that thou hast proclaimed, and they shall be like unto me.

Bible in Basic English

Give ear to the voice of my grief; I have no comforter; all my haters have news of my troubles, they are glad because you have done it: let the day of fate come when they will be like me.

Douay-Rheims 1899

Sin. They have heard that I sigh, and there is none to comfort me: all my enemies have heard of my evil, they have rejoiced that thou hast done it: thou hast brought a day of consolation, and they shall be like unto me.

Free Bible Version

People hear me groaning, but no one comes to comfort me. All my enemies have heard about the bad things that have happened to me, and they're delighted that it was you who did it. Please bring about the day of judgment that you promised so they can end up like me.

Geneva Bible 1599

They haue heard that I mourne, but there is none to comfort mee: all mine enemies haue heard of my trouble, and are glad, that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day, that thou hast pronounced, and they shalbe like vnto me.

King James (Authorized) Version

They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.

Translation for Translators

People have heard us while we groaned, but no one came to comfort us. Yahweh, you caused us to experience this disaster, and our enemies are happy to see what you have done to us. But cause it soon to be the time that you have promised, when our enemies will suffer like we have suffered!

Unlocked Literal Bible

They have heard my groaning, but there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble and they are glad that you have done it. You have brought the day you promised; now let them become like me.

Noah Webster Bible

They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it : thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like me.

World English Bible

“They have heard that I sigh. There is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble. They are glad that you have done it. You will bring the day that you have proclaimed, and they will be like me.

Young's Literal Translation

They have heard that I have sighed, There is no comforter for me, All my enemies have heard of my calamity, They have rejoiced that Thou hast done [it], Thou hast brought in the day Thou hast called, And they are like to me.

Context

How Lonely Lies the City!

²⁰See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death. ²¹People have heard my groaning, but there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that You have caused it. May You bring the day You have announced, so that they may become like me.

Sermons

The Day That Will Right All Wrongs.

Horatius Bonar

Summary

This verse reflects the deep sorrow and anguish of the author, likely Jeremiah, over the destruction of Jerusalem. The use of the term 'virgin daughter of Zion' symbolizes the purity and innocence that has been lost due to the city's devastation. The plea for mercy and restoration reveals a glimmer of hope amidst the despair, as the author acknowledges the need for divine intervention to heal the brokenness. Overall, the verse conveys a sense of mourning, repentance, and longing for God's compassion and renewal.

Commentary

Adam Clarke
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

They have heard that I sigh - My affliction is public enough; but no one comes to comfort me. They are glad that thou hast done it - On the contrary, they exult in my misery; and they see that Thou hast done what they were incapable of performing. Thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me - Babylon shall be visited in her turn; and thy judgments poured out upon her shall equal her state with my own. See the last six chapters of the preceding prophecy for the accomplishment of this prediction.

John Gill Bible Commentary

They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me,.... That is, the nations, as the Targum; the neighbouring ones, those that were her confederates and allies; the same with her lovers, as before, as Aben Ezra observes; these being near her, knew full well her sorrowful and distressed condition, being as it were within the hearing of her sighs and groans; and yet none of them offered to help her, or so much as to speak a comfortable word to her: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; not only her friends, but foes; meaning the Tyrians, Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites, and as the following description of them shows; for it must design others from the Chaldeans, that were the immediate cause of it: they are glad that thou hast done it; brought all this ruin and destruction on Jerusalem, which could never have been done, if the Lord had not willed it; and at this the above mentioned nations rejoiced; see Eze 25:3; there being a considerable stop on the word glad, it may be rendered, as by some, "they are glad; but thou hast done it" (n); not they, but thou; and therefore must be patiently bore, and quietly submitted to, it being the Lord's doing: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called; the time of, he destruction of, he Chaldeans, who had the chief hand in the ruin of the Jewish nation, and of those that rejoiced at it; which time was fixed by the Lord, and proclaimed and published by his prophets, and would certainly and exactly come, as and when it was pointed out: some (o) take it to be a wish or prayer, that God would bring it, as he had declared; though others interpret it in a quite different sense, "thou hast brought the day" (p); meaning on herself, the determined destruction; so the Targum, "thou hast brought upon me the day of vengeance; thou hast called a time upon me to my desolation:'' and they shall be like unto me; in the same distressed, desolate, and sorrowful condition, being brought to ruin and destruction; which afterwards was the case of the Chaldeans, and all the other nations. (n) "laetati sunt; sed tu fecisti", Grotius. (o) "Utinam induceres diem", so some in Vatablus. (p) "adduxisti diem", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "induxisti aut inducis", Vatablus.