Lamentations 4:9
BSB · Public Domain (CC0)“Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.”
A short, plain-language explanation of Lamentations 4:9 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.
“Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.”
Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)“They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.”
King James Version · Public Domain“They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger; For these pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the field.”
American Standard Version · Public Domain“Better have been the pierced of a sword Than the pierced of famine, For these flow away, pierced through, Without the increase of the field.”
Young's Literal Translation · Public DomainOther passages that echo Lamentations 4:9 — 8 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Leviticus 26:39Those of you who survive in the lands of your enemies will waste away in their iniquity and will decay in the sins of their fathers.
- Deuteronomy 28:51They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have caused you to perish.
- Isaiah 22:2O city of commotion, O town of revelry? Your slain did not die by the sword, nor were they killed in battle.
- Jeremiah 16:4“They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and beasts of the earth.”
- Ezekiel 4:16Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure.
- Ezekiel 7:15The sword is outside; plague and famine are within. Those in the country will die by the sword, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.
- Ezekiel 24:23Your turbans will remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan among yourselves.
- Ezekiel 33:10Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?’
Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).