Lamentations 5:17 (DRB)

Passage

Therefore is our heart sorrowful, therefore are our eyes become dim.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 5:15 The joy of our heart is ceased, our dancing is turned into mourning.

Lamentations 5:16 The crown is fallen from our head: woe to us, because we have sinned.

Lamentations 5:17 Therefore is our heart sorrowful, therefore are our eyes become dim.

Lamentations 5:18 For mount Sion, because it is destroyed, foxes have walked upon it.

Lamentations 5:19 But thou, O Lord, shalt remain for ever, thy throne from generation to generation.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "therefore", "heart", "sorrowful", "eyes", and "become". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "therefore" and "heart", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "The crown is fallen from our head..." into verse 18's "For mount Sion because it is destroyed...", so "therefore" and "heart" 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 "therefore" and "heart" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.