Lamentations 5:4 (GNV)

Passage

Wee haue drunke our water for money, and our wood is solde vnto vs.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 5:2 Our inheritance is turned to the strangers, our houses to the aliants.

Lamentations 5:3 We are fatherles, euen without father, and our mothers are as widowes.

Lamentations 5:4 Wee haue drunke our water for money, and our wood is solde vnto vs.

Lamentations 5:5 Our neckes are vnder persecution: we are wearie, and haue no rest.

Lamentations 5:6 We haue giuen our handes to the Egyptians, and to Asshur, to be satisfied with bread.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "haue", "drunke", "water", "money", "wood", "solde", and "vnto". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "haue" and "drunke", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "We are fatherles euen without father and..." into verse 5's "Our neckes are vnder persecution we are...", so "haue" and "drunke" 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 "haue" and "drunke" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.