Lamentations 3:42 (LSB)

Passage

We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 3:40 Let us search out and examine our ways, And let us return to Yahweh.

Lamentations 3:41 We lift up our heart to our hands Toward God in heaven;

Lamentations 3:42 We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned.

Lamentations 3:43 You have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have killed and have not spared.

Lamentations 3:44 You have covered Yourself with a cloud So that no prayer can pass through.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "transgressed", "rebelled", and "pardoned". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "transgressed" and "rebelled", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 41's "We lift up our heart to our..." into verse 43's "You have covered Yourself with anger And...", so "transgressed" and "rebelled" 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 "transgressed" and "rebelled" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.