Lamentations 3:39 (YLT)

Passage

What--sigh habitually doth a living man, A man for his sin?

Nearby Context

Lamentations 3:37 Who <FI>is<Fi> this--he hath said, and it is, <FI>And<Fi> the Lord hath not commanded <FI>it<Fi> ?

Lamentations 3:38 From the mouth of the Most High Go not forth the evils and the good.

Lamentations 3:39 What--sigh habitually doth a living man, A man for his sin?

Lamentations 3:40 We search our ways, and investigate, And turn back unto Jehovah.

Lamentations 3:41 We lift up our heart on the hands unto God in the heavens.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "what--sigh", "habitually", "doth", and "living". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "what--sigh" and "habitually", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 38's "From the mouth of the Most High..." into verse 40's "We search our ways and investigate And...", so "what--sigh" and "habitually" 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 "what--sigh" and "habitually" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.