Lamentations 3:45 (YLT)

Passage

Offscouring and refuse Thou dost make us In the midst of the peoples.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 3:43 Thou hast covered Thyself with anger, And dost pursue us; Thou hast slain--Thou hast not pitied.

Lamentations 3:44 Thou hast covered Thyself with a cloud, So that prayer doth not pass through.

Lamentations 3:45 Offscouring and refuse Thou dost make us In the midst of the peoples.

Lamentations 3:46 Opened against us their mouth have all our enemies.

Lamentations 3:47 Fear and a snare hath been for us, Desolation and destruction.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "offscouring", "refuse", "thou", "dost", "make", "midst", and "peoples". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "offscouring" and "refuse", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 44's "Thou hast covered Thyself with a cloud..." into verse 46's "Opened against us their mouth have all...", so "offscouring" and "refuse" 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 "offscouring" and "refuse" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.