Lamentations 1:18 (YLT)

Passage

Righteous is Jehovah, For His mouth I have provoked. Hear, I pray you, all ye peoples, and see my pain, My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 1:16 For these I am weeping, My eye, my eye, is running down with waters, For, far from me hath been a comforter, Refreshing my soul, My sons have been desolate, For mighty hath been an enemy.

Lamentations 1:17 Spread forth hath Zion her hands, There is no comforter for her, Jehovah hath charged concerning Jacob, His neighbours <FI>are<Fi> his adversaries, Jerusalem hath become impure among them.

Lamentations 1:18 Righteous is Jehovah, For His mouth I have provoked. Hear, I pray you, all ye peoples, and see my pain, My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.

Lamentations 1:19 I called for my lovers, they--they have deceived me, My priests and my elders in the city have expired; When they have sought food for themselves, Then they give back their soul.

Lamentations 1:20 See, O Jehovah, for distress <FI>is<Fi> to me, My bowels have been troubled, Turned hath been my heart in my midst, For I have greatly provoked, From without bereaved hath the sword, In the house <FI>it is<Fi> as death.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "righteous", "jehovah", "mouth", "provoked", "hear", "pray", "peoples", and "pain". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "righteous" and "jehovah", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "Spread forth hath Zion her hands There..." into verse 19's "I called for my lovers they--they have...", so "righteous" and "jehovah" 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 "righteous" and "jehovah" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.