Lamentations 1:18 Meaning and Explanation
“The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Jerusalem declares the LORD righteous and herself the rebel, then calls all peoples to witness her sorrow.
What Does Lamentations 1:18 Mean?
Here is the turning confession at the center of the chapter: 'The LORD is righteous.' Even in the depths, the city does not accuse God of injustice. The fault is her own: 'I have rebelled against his commandment.' This is the posture that makes lament holy rather than mere bitterness — sorrow that still bows to the rightness of God.
Having justified God, she again invites the watching world to see her grief: 'behold my sorrow.' The young men and women are gone into captivity, the future of the nation carried off. To confess guilt and still to grieve openly is no contradiction. The verse models how the faithful can hold God's justice and their own anguish in the same breath, neither one canceling the other.
Lamentations 1:18 in the Original Language
tsaddiq (צַדִּיק), 'righteous' -- in the right, just and faithful in all his dealings, even in judgment.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lamentations 1:18
What does Lamentations 1:18 mean?
Jerusalem declares the LORD righteous and herself the rebel, then calls all peoples to witness her sorrow.