Lamentations 1:18 (DRB)

Passage

Sade. The Lord is just, for I have provoked his mouth to wrath: hear, I pray you, all ye people, and see my sorrow: my virgins, and my young men are gone into captivity.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 1:16 Ain. Therefore do I weep, and my eyes run down with water: because the comforter, the relief of my soul, is far from me: my children are desolate because the enemy hath prevailed.

Lamentations 1:17 Phe. Sion hath spread forth her hands, there is none to comfort her: the Lord hath commanded against Jacob, his enemies are round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.

Lamentations 1:18 Sade. The Lord is just, for I have provoked his mouth to wrath: hear, I pray you, all ye people, and see my sorrow: my virgins, and my young men are gone into captivity.

Lamentations 1:19 Coph. I called for my friends, but they deceived me: my priests and my ancients pined away in the city: while they sought their food, to relieve their souls.

Lamentations 1:20 Res. Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress, my bowels are troubled: my heart is turned within me, for I am full of bitterness: abroad the sword destroyeth and at home there is death alike.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sade", "lord", "just", "provoked", "mouth", "wrath", "hear", and "pray". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sade" and "lord", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "Phe Sion hath spread forth her hands..." into verse 19's "Coph I called for my friends but...", so "sade" and "lord" 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 "sade" and "lord" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.