Lamentations 1:18 (ASV)

Passage

Jehovah is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: Hear, I pray you, all ye peoples, and behold my sorrow: My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 1:16 For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water; Because the comforter that should refresh my soul is far from me: My children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.

Lamentations 1:17 Zion spreadeth forth her hands; there is none to comfort her; Jehovah hath commanded concerning Jacob, that they that are round about him should be his adversaries: Jerusalem is among them as an unclean thing.

Lamentations 1:18 Jehovah is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: Hear, I pray you, all ye peoples, and behold my sorrow: My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.

Lamentations 1:19 I called for my lovers, [but] they deceived me: My priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, While they sought them food to refresh their souls.

Lamentations 1:20 Behold, O Jehovah; for I am in distress; my heart is troubled; My heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehovah", "righteous", "rebelled", "against", "commandment", "hear", "pray", and "peoples". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehovah" and "righteous", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "Zion spreadeth forth her hands there is..." into verse 19's "I called for my lovers but they...", so "jehovah" and "righteous" belong inside that flow. In Lamentations context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jehovah" and "righteous" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.