Lamentations 1:16 (LSB)

Passage

For these things I am weeping; My eyes run down with water; Because far from me is a comforter, One who restores my soul. My children are desolate Because the enemy has prevailed.”

Nearby Context

Lamentations 1:14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound; By His hand they are knit together. They have come upon my neck; He has made my strength stumble. The Lord has given me into the hands Of those against whom I am not able to stand.

Lamentations 1:15 The Lord has rejected all my mighty men In my midst; He has called an appointed time against me To break my young men; The Lord has trodden as in a wine press The virgin daughter of Judah.

Lamentations 1:16 For these things I am weeping; My eyes run down with water; Because far from me is a comforter, One who restores my soul. My children are desolate Because the enemy has prevailed.”

Lamentations 1:17 Zion stretches out her hands; There is no one to comfort her; Yahweh has commanded concerning Jacob That the ones round about him should be his adversaries; Jerusalem has become an impure thing among them.

Lamentations 1:18 “Yahweh is righteous; For I have rebelled against His command; Hear now, all peoples, And behold my pain; My virgins and my young men Have gone into captivity.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "things", "weeping", "eyes", "down", "water", "comforter", "restores", and "soul". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "things" and "weeping", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "The Lord has rejected all my mighty..." into verse 17's "Zion stretches out her hands There is...", so "things" and "weeping" 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 "things" and "weeping" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.