Lamentations 1:22
in Lamentations 1Let all their wickedness come before You, and deal with them as You have dealt with me because of all my transgressions. For my groans are many, and my heart is faint.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let all their wickedness come before thee; And do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions: For my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.
KJV
Let all their wickedness come before thee; and do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions: for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.
⋯
This verse in Lamentations 1
Commentary
11 notes on this verseLet all their wickedness come before thee - That is, Thou wilt call their crimes also into remembrance; and thou wilt do unto them by siege, sword, famine, and captivity, what thou hast done to me. Though thy judgments, because of thy long-suffering, are slow; yet, because of thy righteousness, they are sure. For my sighs are many - My desolations continue; and my heart is faint - my political and physical strength almost totally destroyed. Imprecations in the sacred writings are generally to be understood as declarative of the evils they indicate; or, that such evils will take place.
This site's exposition
See, O LORD, how distressed I am
on Lamentations 1:20-22
The chapter closes as prayer, “See, O LORD, how distressed I am!” The prayer asks Him to “deal with them as You have dealt with me”, laying the case before the Judge. The acrostic ends on “my heart is faint”, still spoken to the God who sent the affliction.
This site's exposition
Let all their wickedness come before You
Zion asks the LORD to deal with her enemies as He has dealt with her transgressions. Adam Clarke reads the plea as a forecast of sure judgment, and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown compare Babylon remembered before God in Revelation 16:19. The acrostic ends here on tav, with her heart faint.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Historical interpretation LET ALL EVIL BE PRESENT: TAU is interpreted 'signs' in plural, as that is shown with this sign, to which many significant things refer. Hence: Mark Tau upon the foreheads of the men that sigh. In this the cross of Christ is understood, …
Here a vindicated Judah (Jerusalem) is sought. First is recalled the fault within memory. As expressed: "Let all their evil-doing come before thee." That is, from their sins. For, Psalm 109:14 exclaims: "May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, Our prayers may and must agree with God's word; and what day God has here called we are to call for, and no other. And though we are bound in charity to forgive our enemies, and to pray for them, yet we may in faith pray for the accomplishment of that which God has spoken against his and his church's enemies, that will not repent to give him glory.
) in fear of what is yet further likely to be. She justifies God in all that is brought upon her, acknowledging that her sins had deserved these severe chastenings. The yoke that lies so heavily, and binds so hard, is the yoke of her transgressions,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
), in which he is justified in their affliction and is humbly solicited to justify himself in their deliverance. The Miseries of Jerusalem; Grief for the Loss of Ordinances.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Is it nothing - The prophet speaks in the name of the Jewish church. Fire - A judgment as consuming, and afflictive as fire. Is bound - Put upon my neck on account of my transgressions.
Let all their wickedness come before thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Such prayers against foes are lawful, if the foe be an enemy of God, and if our concern be not for our own personal feeling, but for the glory of God and the welfare of His people. come before thee--so Re 16:19, "Babylon came in remembrance before God" (compare Ps 109:15).
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תָּבֹ֨א | tavo' | may it come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| רָעָתָ֤ם | raatam | wickedness their | H7451 → | 662 times |
| לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙ | lefaneikha | <to> before you | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וְעוֹלֵ֣ל | veolel | and deal severely | H5953 → | 20 times |
| לָ֔מוֹ | lamo | to them | ||
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עוֹלַ֛לְתָּ | olalta | you have dealt severely | H5953 → | 20 times |
| לִ֖י | li | to me | ||
| עַ֣ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| פְּשָׁעָ֑י | peshaai | transgressions my | H6588 → | 93 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רַבּ֥וֹת | rabot | [are] many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| אַנְחֹתַ֖י | ʾanchotai | groaning<s> my | H585 → | |
| וְלִבִּ֥י | velibi | and heart my | H3820 → | 595 times |
| דַוָּֽי׃ פ | davai | [is] faint | H1742 → |
תָּבֹ֨אmay it come
tavo'H935 →2568 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
רָעָתָ֤םwickedness their
raatamH7451 →662 times
לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙<to> before you
lefaneikhaH6440 →2123 times
וְעוֹלֵ֣לand deal severely
veolelH5953 →20 times
לָ֔מוֹto them
lamo
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
עוֹלַ֛לְתָּyou have dealt severely
olaltaH5953 →20 times
לִ֖יto me
li
עַ֣לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
פְּשָׁעָ֑יtransgressions my
peshaaiH6588 →93 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
רַבּ֥וֹת[are] many
rabotH7227 →454 times
אַנְחֹתַ֖יgroaning<s> my
ʾanchotaiH585 →
וְלִבִּ֥יand heart my
velibiH3820 →595 times
דַוָּֽי׃ פ[is] faint
davaiH1742 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Revelation 6:10And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
it leads to
- Revelation 19:2
For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her…
- Psalms 9:12
For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
- Revelation 11:18
The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come. The time has come to judge the dead and to reward Your servants the prophets, as well as the saints and those who fear Your…
- Romans 12:19
Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- 2 Thessalonians 1:6–8
After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
- Revelation 19:2
Through
Jeremiah 10:25Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him and finished…
it leads to
- Psalms 79:6–7
Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, on the kingdoms that refuse to call on Your name,
- Jeremiah 8:16
The snorting of enemy horses is heard from Dan. At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, the whole land quakes. They come to devour the land and everything in it, the city…
- Psalms 14:4
Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon the LORD.
- Psalms 79:6–7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Lamentations
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Glossa Ordinaria, Commentary (church-history corpus); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.