Passage

Lamentations 3.35-38

Book: Lamentations · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"33. For he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. 34. To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,"

"35. To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High, 36. To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. 37. Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? 38. Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there not evil and good?"

"39. Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? 40. Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah." (Lamentations 3:33-40, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"33. For he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. 34. To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,"

"35. To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High, 36. To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord doesn’t approve. 37. Who is he who says, and it comes to pass, when the Lord doesn’t command it? 38. Doesn’t evil and good come out of the mouth of the Most High?"

"39. Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? 40. Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh." (Lamentations 3:33-40, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"33. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. ^{willingly: Heb. from his heart} 34. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,"

"35. To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, ^{the most High: or, a superior} 36. To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. ^{approveth not: or, seeth not} 37. Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? 38. Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?"

"39. Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? ^{complain: or, murmur} 40. Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD." (Lamentations 3:33-40, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"33. For He hath not afflicted with His heart, Nor doth He grieve the sons of men. 34. To bruise under one's feet any bound ones of earth,"

"35. To turn aside the judgment of a man, Over-against the face of the Most High, 36. To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord hath not approved. 37. Who [is] this, he hath said, and it is, [And] the Lord hath not commanded [it]? 38. From the mouth of the Most High Go not forth the evils and the good."

"39. What, sigh habitually doth a living man, A man for his sin? 40. We search our ways, and investigate, And turn back unto Jehovah." (Lamentations 3:33-40, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Yahweh is a Son of Elyon Defeater

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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.