# Lamentations 3.22

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-05-31 | updated: 2026-05-31 -->

**Book:** [Lamentations](/codex/lamentations/) · ASV

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 20. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is bowed down within me. 21. This I recall to my mind; therefore have I hope.
>
> **22. It is of Jehovah's lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.**
>
> 23. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. 24. Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. (Lamentations 3:20-24, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 20. My soul still remembers them, and is bowed down within me. 21. This I recall to my mind; therefore I have hope.
>
> **22. It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail.**
>
> 23. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24. “Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:20-24, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 20. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. <sup>humbled: Heb. bowed</sup> 21. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. <sup>recall: Heb. make to return to my heart</sup>
>
> **22. It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.**
>
> 23. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. (Lamentations 3:20-24, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 20. Remember well, and bow down doth my soul in me. 21. This I turn to my heart, therefore I hope.
>
> **22. The kindnesses of Jehovah! For we have not been consumed, For not ended have His mercies.**
>
> 23. New every morning, abundant [is] thy faithfulness. 24. My portion [is] Jehovah, hath my soul said, Therefore I hope for Him. (Lamentations 3:20-24, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** Jeremiah (traditional authorship) / lament-poet
- **Audience:** post-587-BC exiled Judah
- **Location:** Judah / Jerusalem in ruins
- **Time period:** composition c. 587-586 BC, just after the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon

## Theological reading

In the structural center of Lamentations' five-acrostic lament-poem, this verse holds the pivot from despair to hope. The Hebrew pairs the two great covenant-love words: *chasdei YHWH* ("lovingkindnesses of YHWH," the plural intensive of *hesed*) and *rachamav* ("His compassions," the plural intensive of *rachamim*). The pairing is structural: *hesed* names God's loyal covenant-love; *rachamim* names His tender womb-compassion; together they bound the divine character. The verse refuses both prosperity-theology (the exile is real; Jerusalem is in ruins) and despair-theology (yet the people are *not consumed*; the divine *rachamim* has not failed). The morning-by-morning renewal (v. 23) becomes the basis for the *therefore I hope* of the verse before (v. 21) and after (v. 24). This is the OT's clearest articulation that God's *rachamim* is the floor under covenant judgment.

## Key words

- [H7356 - rachamim](/codex/h7356-rachamim/), *rachamim* (Strong's H7356). Here paired with [H2617 - hesed](/codex/h2617-hesed/) *hesed* as the two-word covenant-character pairing.

## See also

- [Exodus 34.6-7](/codex/exodus-34-6-7/), the foundational *hesed* + *rachamim* self-disclosure
- [Hesed](/codex/h2617-hesed/), the doctrinal-attribute hub
- [Attributes of God](/codex/divine-attributes/), the broader frame
- Theodicy and Suffering, the lament-genre theological context

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## Quoted in

**Arguments and defeaters:**

- [Argument from Meaningful Suffering](/codex/argument-from-meaningful-suffering/), via [Lamentations 3.21-26](/codex/lamentations-3-21-26/)
- [OT vs NT God Objection Defeater](/codex/ot-vs-nt-god-objection-defeater/), via [Lamentations 3.22-23](/codex/lamentations-3-22-23/)

**Concepts:**

- [100 Verses of Compassion and God's Goodness](/codex/100-verses-of-compassion-and-gods-goodness/)
- [Atheism](/codex/atheism/), via [Lamentations 3.22-23](/codex/lamentations-3-22-23/)
- [OT vs NT God Objection](/codex/ot-vs-nt-god-objection/), via [Lamentations 3.22-23](/codex/lamentations-3-22-23/)

**Lexicon:**

- [H7356 - rachamim](/codex/h7356-rachamim/)

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## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.