Lamentations 5.11-13

type: passage created: 2026-05-06 updated: 2026-05-06 book: Lamentations chapter: 5 verses: "11-13" translation_default: ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT tags: [scripture] citation_count: 1 enriched: false

Quoted in

Lamentations 5.11-13

Book: Lamentations · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"9. We get our bread at the peril of our lives, Because of the sword of the wilderness. 10. Our skin is black like an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine."

"11. They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah. 12. Princes were hanged up by their hand: The faces of elders were not honored. 13. The young men bare the mill; And the children stumbled under the wood."

"14. The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music. 15. The joy of our heart is ceased; Our dance is turned into mourning." (Lamentations 5:9-15, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"9. We get our bread at the peril of our lives, Because of the sword of the wilderness. 10. Our skin is black like an oven, Because of the burning heat of famine."

"11. They ravished the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah. 12. Princes were hanged up by their hand: The faces of elders were not honored. 13. The young men bare the mill; The children stumbled under the wood."

"14. The elders have ceased from the gate, The young men from their music. 15. The joy of our heart is ceased; Our dance is turned into mourning." (Lamentations 5:9-15, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"9. We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. 10. Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. ^{terrible: or, terrors, or, storms}"

"11. They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. 12. Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured. 13. They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood."

"14. The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick. 15. The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning." (Lamentations 5:9-15, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"9. With our lives we bring in our bread, Because of the sword of the wilderness. 10. Our skin as an oven hath been burning, Because of the raging of the famine."

"11. Wives in Zion they have humbled, Virgins, in cities of Judah. 12. Princes by their hand have been hanged, The faces of elders have not been honoured. 13. Young men to grind they have taken, And youths with wood have stumbled."

"14. The aged from the gate have ceased, Young men from their song. 15. Ceased hath the joy of our heart, Turned to mourning hath been our dancing." (Lamentations 5:9-15, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Jeremiah (traditional)
Audience: Judah after the fall of Jerusalem
Location: Jerusalem ruins
Time period: composed c. 586-580 BC

Theological reading

Key words

H1330 - bethulah, bethulah (Strong's H1330). Also appears in: Exodus 22.16, Exodus 22.17, Deuteronomy 22.

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.