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Lamentations 5:4

Poverty and the vulnerable

2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.

3 We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows.

We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price.

5 We are closely pursued; we are weary and find no rest.

6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.

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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
We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price.
KJV
We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.
WEB
We must pay for water to drink. Our wood is sold to us.
ASV
We have drunken our water for money; Our wood is sold unto us.
DARBY
Our water have we to drink for money, our wood cometh unto us for a price.
BLB
Our water for silver we drink, [and] our wood comes in with a price.
ÅB
Vi må kjøpe det vann vi drikker, vår ved må vi betale.
OTB
Vi må betale for vannet vi drikker; vårt ved får vi til en pris.
B1930
Vi må kjøpe det vann vi drikker, vår ved må vi betale.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Isaiah 3:1

    For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,

    Read in context

  • Deuteronomy 28:48

    you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

    Read in context

  • Ezekiel 4:9–17

    But take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. This is what you are to eat during the 390 days you lie on your side.

    Read in context