Lamentations 1:8 (GNV)

Passage

Ierusalem hath grieuously sinned, therefore shee is in derision: all that honoured her, despise her, because they haue seene her filthinesse: yea, she sigheth and turneth backeward.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 1:6 And from the daughter of Zion all her beautie is departed: her princes are become like harts that finde no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.

Lamentations 1:7 Ierusalem remembred the dayes of her affliction, and of her rebellion, and all her pleasant things, that shee had in times past, when her people fell into the hande of the enemie, and none did helpe her: the aduersarie sawe her, and did mocke at her Sabbaths.

Lamentations 1:8 Ierusalem hath grieuously sinned, therefore shee is in derision: all that honoured her, despise her, because they haue seene her filthinesse: yea, she sigheth and turneth backeward.

Lamentations 1:9 Her filthinesse is in her skirts: she remembred not her last ende, therefore she came downe wonderfully: she had no comforter: O Lord, behold mine affliction: for the enemie is proud.

Lamentations 1:10 The enemie hath stretched out his hande vpon al her pleasant things: for she hath seene the heathen enter into her Sanctuarie, whom thou diddest commande, that they shoulde not enter into thy Church.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "ierusalem", "hath", "grieuously", "sinned", "therefore", "shee", "derision", and "honoured". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ierusalem" and "hath", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "Ierusalem remembred the dayes of her affliction..." into verse 9's "Her filthinesse is in her skirts she...", so "ierusalem" and "hath" 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 "ierusalem" and "hath" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.