Lamentations 4:20

¹⁸ They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.

¹⁹ Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.

²¹ Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.

²² The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”
KJV: The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.
WEB: The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits; of whom we said, under his shadow we will live among the nations.
ASV: The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits; Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.
DARBY: The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits; of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.
BLB: The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of YHWH, was caught in their pits, of whom we said, “Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.”

ÅB: Vår livsånde, Herrens salvede, ble fanget i deres graver, han om hvem vi sa: I hans skygge vil vi leve blant folkene.
OTB: Våre nesers pust, Herrens salvede, ble fanget i deres feller. Vi trodde at under hans skygge skulle vi leve blant nasjonene.
B1930: Vår livsånde, Herrens salvede, blev fanget i deres graver, han om hvem vi sa: I hans skygge vil vi leve blandt folkene.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

2 Samuel 1:14
And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?
Read in context
Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Read in context
Ezekiel 12:13
My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.
Read in context
Jeremiah 39:5
But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
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2 Samuel 19:21
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?
Read in context
Psalms 89:20–21
I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
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Lamentations 2:9
Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.
Read in context
2 Samuel 1:21
Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.
Read in context