Lamentations 3 · Verse 40

Lamentations 3:40

Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.
Lamentations 3:40, King James Version

Lamentations 3:40 in other translations

BSBLet us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.
WEBLet us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
ASVLet us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah.
YLTWe search our ways, and investigate, And turn back unto Jehovah.
DARBYLet us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah.
BBELet us make search and put our ways to the test, turning again to the Lord;
WebsterLet us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.

What does Lamentations 3:40 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Lamentations 3:40-42
40-42. us--Jeremiah and his fellow countrymen in their calamity. search--as opposed to the torpor wherewith men rest only on their outward sufferings, without attending to the cause of them (Psa 139:23, 24).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 40 Let us search - How are we to get the pardon of our sins? The prophet tells us: 1. Let us examine ourselves. 2. "Let us turn again to the Lord." 3. "Let us lift up our heart;" let us make fervent prayer and supplication for mercy. 4. "Let us lift up our hand;" let us solemnly promise to be his, and bind ourselves in a covenant to be the Lord's only: so much lifting up the hand to God implies. Or, let us put our heart on our hand, and offer it to God; so some have translated this clause. 5. "We have transgressed;" let our confession of sin be fervent and sincere. 6. And to us who profess Christianity it may be added, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as having died for thee; and thou shalt not perish, but have everlasting life. Lam 3:46, Lam 3:47, Lam 3:48, beginning with פ phe, should, as to the order of the alphabet, follow Lam 3:49, Lam 3:50, Lam 3:51, which begin with ע ain, which in its grammatical position precedes the former.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Lamentations 3:37-41

While there is life there is hope; and instead of complaining that things are bad, we should encourage ourselves with the hope they will be better. We are sinful men, and what we complain of, is far less than our sins deserve. We should complain to God, and not of him. We are apt, in times of calamity, to reflect on other people's ways, and blame them; but our duty is to search and try our own ways, that we may turn…

Read the full comment on Lamentations 3:37-41 →

Lamentations 3:40 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

נַחְפְּשָׂ֤הnach.pe.Sahlet us examineH2664
דְרָכֵ֙ינוּ֙de.ra.Khei.nuways ourH1870
וְֽנַחְקֹ֔רָהve.nach.Ko.rahand let us examineH2713
וְנָשׁ֖וּבָהve.na.Shu.vahand let us returnH7725
עַד\־'ad-toH5704
יְהוָֽה\׃Yah.wehYahwehH3068

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Lamentations 3:40

  • 2 Corinthians 13:5

    Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

  • Psalms 139:23-24

    Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

  • Joel 2:12-13

    Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

  • Psalms 4:4

    Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

  • Isaiah 55:7

    Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

  • Psalms 119:59

    I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.

  • Haggai 1:5-9

    Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. …

  • Hosea 6:1

    Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

  • Hosea 14:1-3

    O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

  • 1 Corinthians 11:28

    But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

  • 2 Chronicles 30:9

    For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

  • 1 Corinthians 11:31

    For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
search.
1Ch 15:12,13; Job 11:13-15; 34:31,32; Ps 4:4; 119:59; 139:23,24
Eze 18:28; Hag 1:5-9; 1Co 11:28,31; 2Co 13:5
turn.
De 4:30; 2Ch 30:6,9; Isa 55:7; Ho 6:1; 12:6; 14:1-3; Joe 2:12,13
Zec 1:3,4; Ac 26:20

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Lamentations 3:39

    Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

  • Lamentations 3:40

    Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.

  • Lamentations 3:41

    Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.

Read all of Lamentations 3

Lamentations 3:40 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Escudriñemos nuestros caminos, y busquemos, y volvámonos á Jehová.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Recherchons nos voies, et scrutons-les, et retournons jusqu’à l’ Éternel.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Prüfen und erforschen wir unsere Wege, und laßt uns zu Jehova umkehren!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Scrutemur vias nostras, et quæramus, et revertamur ad Dominum.