Lamentations 3:59
Lamentations 3:59 in Multiple Translations
You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me; vindicate my cause!
O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.
O Jehovah, thou hast seen my wrong; judge thou my cause.
O Lord, you have seen my wrong; be judge in my cause.
Lord, you have seen the injustices done to me; please vindicate me!
O Lord, thou hast seene my wrong, iudge thou my cause.
Thou hast seen, O Jehovah, my overthrow, Judge Thou my cause.
LORD, you have seen my wrong. Judge my cause.
O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.
Res. Thou hast seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me: judge thou my judgment.
Now, Yahweh, you have seen the evil things that my enemies have done to me, so decide my case and show that I am right!
Berean Amplified Bible — Lamentations 3:59
BAB
Word Study
Hover over any word to see its amplified meaning. Click a word to explore its full definition and translation comparisons.
Amplified text is generated using scripting to tie together English translations for comparison. Always refer to the core BSB translation and original Hebrew/Greek text for accuracy. Anomalies may occur.
Lamentations 3:59 Interlinear (Deep Study)
BIB
HEB
רָאִ֤יתָה
יְהוָה֙
עַוָּ֣תָתִ֔/י
שָׁפְטָ֖/ה
מִשְׁפָּטִֽ/י
רָאִ֤יתָה
râʼâh
H7200
Provider
V-Qal-Perf-2ms
יְהוָה֙
Yᵉhôvâh
H3068
The Lord
N-proper
עַוָּ֣תָתִ֔/י
ʻavvâthâh
H5792
oppression
N-fs | Suff
שָׁפְטָ֖/ה
shâphaṭ
H8199
to judge
V-Qal-Impv-2ms | Suff
מִשְׁפָּטִֽ/י
mishpâṭ
H4941
justice
N-ms | Suff
Hebrew Word Study
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Hebrew Word Reference — Lamentations 3:59
רָאִ֤יתָה
râʼâh
H7200
"Provider"
V-Qal-Perf-2ms
The Hebrew word for provider means to see or look after, and is used to describe God's care for his people. It appears in various forms throughout the Bible, including in Genesis and other books.
Definition: (Lord will) Provide, cause to be seen. This name means to see, look at, inspect, look after
Usage: Occurs in 1206 OT verses. KJV: advise self, appear, approve, behold, [idiom] certainly, consider, discern, (make to) enjoy, have experience, gaze, take heed, [idiom] indeed, [idiom] joyfully, lo, look (on, one another, one on another, one upon another, out, up, upon), mark, meet, [idiom] be near, perceive, present, provide, regard, (have) respect, (fore-, cause to, let) see(-r, -m, one another), shew (self), [idiom] sight of others, (e-) spy, stare, [idiom] surely, [idiom] think, view, visions. See also: Genesis 1:4; Genesis 41:41; Exodus 33:13.
יְהוָה֙
Yᵉhôvâh
H3068
"The Lord"
N-proper
Yehovah is another name for God, often translated as 'the Lord'. It is a national name for God in the Jewish faith. This name is used throughout the Old Testament.
Definition: Another name of ye.ru.sha.laim (יְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵם "Jerusalem" H3389)
Usage: Occurs in 5522 OT verses. KJV: Jehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050 (יָהּ), H3069 (יְהֹוִה). See also: Genesis 2:4; Genesis 24:42; Exodus 8:8.
עַוָּ֣תָתִ֔/י
ʻavvâthâh
H5792
"oppression"
N-fs | Suff
This word refers to oppression or subversion, and it is used to describe a state of being bent or twisted. In the Bible, it is used in the book of Psalms to describe the wrongs done to the poor.
Definition: subversion, bending
Usage: Occurs in 1 OT verses. KJV: wrong. See also: Lamentations 3:59.
שָׁפְטָ֖/ה
shâphaṭ
H8199
"to judge"
V-Qal-Impv-2ms | Suff
To shaphat means to judge or govern, and can also mean to vindicate or punish. In the Bible, this term is often used to describe God's role as a judge, as well as human judges and rulers.
Definition: 1) to judge, govern, vindicate, punish 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to act as law-giver or judge or governor (of God, man) 1a1a) to rule, govern, judge 1a2) to decide controversy (of God, man) 1a3) to execute judgment 1a3a) discriminating (of man) 1a3b) vindicating 1a3c) condemning and punishing 1a3d) at theophanic advent for final judgment 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to enter into controversy, plead, have controversy together 1b2) to be judged 1c) (Poel) judge, opponent-at-law (participle)
Usage: Occurs in 182 OT verses. KJV: [phrase] avenge, [idiom] that condemn, contend, defend, execute (judgment), (be a) judge(-ment), [idiom] needs, plead, reason, rule. See also: Genesis 16:5; Psalms 9:5; Psalms 2:10.
מִשְׁפָּטִֽ/י
mishpâṭ
H4941
"justice"
N-ms | Suff
Mishpat means justice or judgment, and is often used to describe God's righteous judgment, as well as human laws and decisions, in books like Deuteronomy and Isaiah.
Definition: : judgement/punishment 1) judgment, justice, ordinance 1a) judgment 1a1) act of deciding a case 1a2) place, court, seat of judgment 1a3) process, procedure, litigation (before judges) 1a4) case, cause (presented for judgment) 1a5) sentence, decision (of judgment) 1a6) execution (of judgment) 1a7) time (of judgment) 1b) justice, right, rectitude (attributes of God or man) 1c) ordinance 1d) decision (in law) 1e) right, privilege, due (legal) 1f) proper, fitting, measure, fitness, custom, manner, plan
Usage: Occurs in 406 OT verses. KJV: [phrase] adversary, ceremony, charge, [idiom] crime, custom, desert, determination, discretion, disposing, due, fashion, form, to be judged, judgment, just(-ice, -ly), (manner of) law(-ful), manner, measure, (due) order, ordinance, right, sentence, usest, [idiom] worthy, [phrase] wrong. See also: Genesis 18:19; 1 Kings 2:3; Psalms 1:5.
Study Notes — Lamentations 3:59
Show Verse Quote Highlights
- Context
- Cross References
- Lamentations 3:59 Summary
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Reflection Questions
- Gill's Exposition on Lamentations 3:59
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Lamentations 3:59
- Matthew Poole's Commentary on Lamentations 3:59
- Trapp's Commentary on Lamentations 3:59
- Cambridge Bible on Lamentations 3:59
- Sermons on Lamentations 3:59
Context — God’s Justice
57You drew near when I called on You; You said, “Do not be afraid.”
58You defend my cause, O Lord; You redeem my life.
59You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me; vindicate my cause!
60You have seen all their malice, all their plots against me. 61O LORD, You have heard their insults, all their plots against me—Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psalms 43:1 | Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men. |
| 2 | Psalms 9:4 | For You have upheld my just cause; You sit on Your throne judging righteously. |
| 3 | Genesis 31:42 | If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.” |
| 4 | Psalms 35:1 | Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me. |
| 5 | Psalms 26:1 | Vindicate me, O LORD! For I have walked with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. |
| 6 | 1 Peter 2:23 | When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. |
| 7 | Jeremiah 20:7–10 | You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail. For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.” |
| 8 | Psalms 35:23 | Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord! |
| 9 | Jeremiah 37:1–21 | Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah son of Josiah the king of Judah, and he reigned in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim. But he and his officers and the people of the land refused to obey the words that the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet with the message, “Please pray to the LORD our God for us!” Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison. Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem. Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says that you are to tell the king of Judah, who sent you to Me: Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to help you, will go back to its own land of Egypt. Then the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down. This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will go away for good,’ for they will not! Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.” When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people. But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, seized him and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” “That is a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials. The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison. So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and remained there a long time. Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “How have I sinned against you or your servants or these people, that you have put me in prison? Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, claiming, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or this land’? But now please listen, O my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.” So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard. |
| 10 | Jeremiah 18:18–23 | Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.” Attend to me, O LORD. Hear what my accusers are saying! Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them. Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle. Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet. But You, O LORD, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their guilt or blot out their sin from Your sight. Let them be overthrown before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger. |
Lamentations 3:59 Summary
Lamentations 3:59 is a prayer where the writer asks God to see the wrong done to them and to vindicate, or clear, their name. This means they want God to make things right and bring justice to their situation. We can trust that God sees every wrong and will act justly, as He promises in Psalm 37:5-6 to commit our way to Him and trust in Him. By praying like this, we can leave our concerns and injustices in God's hands, knowing He will work everything out for our good (Romans 8:28).
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to 'vindicate my cause' in Lamentations 3:59?
To vindicate one's cause means to clear their name, prove their innocence, and bring justice to their situation, as seen in Psalm 35:24, where David asks God to vindicate him and judge him according to his righteousness.
How can I be sure God sees the wrong done to me, like it says in Lamentations 3:59?
The Bible promises that God is all-seeing and all-knowing, as stated in Psalm 139:1-6, and He is aware of every injustice and wrongdoing, so we can trust that He sees the wrong done to us and will act justly.
What is the relationship between Lamentations 3:59 and the preceding verse, Lamentations 3:58?
Lamentations 3:58 says God defends our cause and redeems our life, and Lamentations 3:59 is a follow-up prayer asking God to vindicate our cause, showing a progression from God's general promise of defense to a specific request for justice in a particular situation.
Is Lamentations 3:59 a verse about revenge or retaliation?
No, Lamentations 3:59 is not about seeking revenge, but rather about asking God to bring justice and vindication, leaving the matter in God's hands, as Romans 12:19 instructs us not to take revenge, but rather to leave room for God's wrath.
Reflection Questions
- What are some specific wrongs or injustices I have experienced that I can bring before God in prayer, asking Him to vindicate my cause?
- How can I trust God's timing and plan when it seems like justice is delayed or absent in my life?
- In what ways can I reflect God's character of justice and righteousness in my own relationships and interactions with others?
- What does it mean for me to 'leave room for God's wrath' in situations where I feel wronged or injusticed, and how can I practically apply this in my life?
Gill's Exposition on Lamentations 3:59
O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong,.... Or, "my perverseness" (w); not that he or they had been guilty of; but the wrong that was done to him and them by their enemies; how perverse and ill natured they
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Lamentations 3:59
O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life. Jeremiah cites God's gracious answers to his prayers, in times past, as an encouragement to his fellow-countrymen to trust in Him. Verse 58.
Matthew Poole's Commentary on Lamentations 3:59
Thou hast a perfect knowledge of men’ s perverse and unrighteous dealings with me at this time; do thou judge betwixt me and mine enemies, and deal with them according to what shall appear just to thee.
Trapp's Commentary on Lamentations 3:59
Lamentations 3:59 O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.Ver. 59. O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong.] Thou hast seen it and art sensible of it; that is my comfort; for εχειθεοςεκδικονδμμα. Judge thou my cause.] As Psalms 43:1.
Cambridge Bible on Lamentations 3:59
52–66. See intr. note.
Sermons on Lamentations 3:59
| Sermon | Description | |
|---|---|---|
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Prayer in the Time of Trouble by Chuck Smith | In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith addresses the issue of seeking righteous judgment from God in the face of an ungodly nation. He begins by acknowledging the sad reality of a nati |
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Psalm 43: A Cry of Distress by Art Katz | Art Katz explores Psalm 43, emphasizing the psalmist's deep distress and his struggle to reconcile his experiences with his understanding of God's character. The psalmist's cry for |
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Exposition on Psalm 10 by St. Augustine | St. Augustine preaches on the Psalms, delving into the deep meanings behind the verses. He discusses the consequences of sin, the anger of the Lord towards the ungodly, and the imp |
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(Genesis) Genesis 31:42-49 by J. Vernon McGee | In this sermon, the preacher discusses the contract made between Jacob and Laban. Laban claims ownership of everything, including Jacob's wives and children. Jacob, however, assert |
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(Genesis) Genesis 31:20-25 by J. Vernon McGee | In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the story of Jacob fleeing from Laban. Jacob had secretly left Laban's house without informing him and traveled a great distance to Mount Gi |
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(The Life of David) 03 Friends and Foes in David's Life by Denny Kenaston | In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of spending time in fellowship with God in order to overcome the giants in our lives. He uses the example of David, who spent |
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Great Faith Over Great Fear - Psalm 46 by Michael Flowers | In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the power and victory found in the word of God. They highlight the importance of understanding the prophetic message of Jesus and the impact |