Lamentations 3:45 (ASV)

Passage

Thou hast made us an off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 3:43 Thou hast covered with anger and pursued us; thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.

Lamentations 3:44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.

Lamentations 3:45 Thou hast made us an off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.

Lamentations 3:46 All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.

Lamentations 3:47 Fear and the pit are come upon us, devastation and destruction.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "hast", "off-scouring", "refuse", "midst", and "peoples". 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 44's "Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud..." into verse 46's "All our enemies have opened their mouth...", 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.