Lamentations 3:18 kjv
And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
Lamentations 3:18 nkjv
And I said, "My strength and my hope Have perished from the LORD."
Lamentations 3:18 niv
So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD."
Lamentations 3:18 esv
so I say, "My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD."
Lamentations 3:18 nlt
I cry out, "My splendor is gone!
Everything I had hoped for from the LORD is lost!"
Lamentations 3 18 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Lam 1:22 | Let all my enemies come and leap for joy when you do this to me. | Suffering is allowed by God, not a sign of his abandonment. |
| Lam 2:11 | My eyes are spent with weeping, my stomach churns, my liver is poured out on the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. | Visual representation of intense grief and internal distress. |
| Lam 3:1 | I am the man who has suffered under the rod of his indignation. | Personal suffering directly linked to God's discipline. |
| Lam 3:6 | He makes me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. | Experiencing profound darkness and absence of divine light. |
| Lam 3:10 | He is a lion lying in wait for me, a leopard in the secret places. | God depicted as a hidden, predatory force causing fear. |
| Lam 3:12 | He has bent his bow and set me as the target for his arrows. | Feeling personally targeted and afflicted by divine judgment. |
| Lam 3:21 | But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: | A turning point, introducing a reason for hope amidst despair. |
| Lam 3:22 | The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end. | Affirmation of God's unfailing love and mercy. |
| Lam 3:24 | “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” | Declaration of God as one's inheritance and basis for hope. |
| Lam 3:30 | Let him give his cheek to the smiter, and let him receive a continually overflowing flood of insults. | Submission to suffering and insults as a response to God's will. |
| Lam 3:31 | For the Lord will not / cast off forever. | Reassurance that divine affliction is not permanent. |
| Lam 3:58 | You have defended my cause, O Lord, at the cost of my life. | God's ultimate deliverance despite severe personal cost. |
| Psa 22:1 | My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? | Parallel expression of abandonment and questioning God's presence. |
| Psa 42:5 | Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you so disquieted within me? | Self-exhortation to trust in God despite inner turmoil. |
| Psa 42:11 | Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you so disquieted within me? | Repeated self-exhortation, emphasizing the struggle to hope. |
| Psa 62:5 | For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. | Sole source of hope is God; emphasizes silent waiting. |
| Psa 77:7 | Will the Lord spurn forever, and will he never again be favorable? | Questioning the duration of God's apparent withdrawal. |
| Psa 77:8 | Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Does his promise fail for all time? | Doubt regarding the permanence of God's covenant faithfulness. |
| Psa 130:7 | O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. | Encouragement to hope in God's abundant redemption and love. |
| Isa 26:8 | In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and your renown are the desire of our soul. | Waiting for God's righteous judgment with a longing soul. |
| Isa 40:31 | but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. | Promise of renewed strength for those who wait on the Lord. |
| Jer 8:10 | therefore I will give their houses to another, their fields to their conquerors. | Judgment through dispossession of property and land. |
| Mic 7:7 | But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. | Personal commitment to look to and wait for God. |
| John 1:4 | In him was life, and the life was the light of men. | Christ as the source of life and spiritual illumination. |
| Rom 15:13 | May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. | The Holy Spirit as the source of hope. |
Lamentations 3 verses
Lamentations 3 18 Meaning
My strength and my hope have perished from the LORD. This verse expresses a profound sense of despair and loss, indicating that the source of the speaker's power and expectation is believed to be cut off. It speaks to a state of utter hopelessness where one's confidence in God has been severely shaken, leading to a feeling of complete desolation.
Lamentations 3 18 Context
Lamentations chapter 3 is a profound expression of personal suffering and lament amidst the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of its people. The speaker, identifying with the nation's plight, describes an overwhelming sense of God's wrath. Verse 18, appearing after a series of vivid descriptions of God's judgment, signifies a peak of despair. Historically, this comes in the wake of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (587/586 BC), a devastating event that tested the faith of the survivors. The poem transitions from utter hopelessness to a cautious yet persistent hope in God's enduring mercy, often seen as a masterful depiction of how faith navigates deep suffering.
Lamentations 3 18 Word Analysis
אָפֵס (afes) - "perished," "ended," "failed." This Hebrew verb signifies the complete cessation or exhaustion of something. Here, it highlights the speaker's feeling that his strength and hope have utterly run out. It implies not just a temporary absence but a permanent loss.
תּוֹחֶלְתִּי (toḥel'ti) - "my hope." Derived from a root meaning "to wait" or "expect," this noun refers to confident anticipation of good things. The possessive suffix "-ti" ('my') makes it deeply personal, indicating that the speaker's specific hopes have been dashed.
מִן (min) - "from." A preposition indicating origin or separation. In this context, it underscores that the speaker believes his hope has departed from the LORD, implying a severance of connection with the source of hope.
יְהוָה (YHWH) - "the LORD." The covenant name of God, emphasizing His relationship with Israel. The use of this specific name intensifies the lament, as the speaker feels forsaken by the God who promised faithfulness.
Word Group Analysis
אָפֵס תּוֹחֶלְתִּי (afes toḥel'ti) - "my hope has perished." This pairing of "perished" and "my hope" creates a powerful statement of complete and personal despair. It’s not just a general bad outcome, but the annihilation of future expectation.
מִן יְהוָה (min YHWH) - "from the LORD." The separation from "the LORD" signifies the perceived withdrawal of divine favor and support. It paints a picture of spiritual isolation, where the very source of strength and comfort is felt to be absent.
Lamentations 3 18 Bonus Section
This verse reflects a profound understanding of the human spiritual condition, acknowledging the real possibility of feeling utterly abandoned by God during extreme suffering. It is not uncommon in biblical narratives for the faithful to question God's presence, such as in the Psalms (e.g., Psalm 22:1). This verse captures the deepest a the heart can sink when faced with the seeming silence of God in the midst of calamity. The emphasis on "my" hope underlines the personal nature of faith and despair. The shift that follows in chapter 3—from absolute despair to a reasoned hope based on the enduring character of God's mercy—is a central theological movement within the book of Lamentations. It teaches that hope is not necessarily contingent on present circumstances but on the steadfast nature of God Himself.
Lamentations 3 18 Commentary
The verse "my strength and my hope have perished from the LORD" (Lamentations 3:18) conveys an emotional low point, a sense of absolute spiritual and emotional destitution. It articulates a feeling that God, the ultimate source of all strength and future expectation, has utterly withdrawn His support and favor. This is a cry of profound despair, where the connection to divine resources feels broken. However, this extreme statement of hopelessness serves as a critical backdrop for the immediate turn in the next verse (3:19), "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope." This juxtaposition highlights the speaker's deliberate choice to recall God's faithfulness, even when immediate experience suggests otherwise. It illustrates the struggle of faith in the face of devastating loss, moving from "all is lost" to remembering the unchanging character of God as the basis for renewed hope. The intensity of the despair makes the subsequent reawakening of hope all the more potent.