Lamentations 3:17 (ASV)

Passage

And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace; I forgat prosperity.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 3:15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath sated me with wormwood.

Lamentations 3:16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones; he hath covered me with ashes.

Lamentations 3:17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace; I forgat prosperity.

Lamentations 3:18 And I said, My strength is perished, and mine expectation from Jehovah.

Lamentations 3:19 Remember mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "hast", "removed", "soul", "peace", "forgat", and "prosperity". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "hast", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "He hath also broken my teeth with..." into verse 18's "And I said My strength is perished...", so "thou" and "hast" 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 "thou" and "hast" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.