Lamentations 4 · Verse 18

Lamentations 4:18

They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
Lamentations 4:18, King James Version

Lamentations 4:18 in other translations

BSBThey stalked our every step, so that we could not walk in our streets. Our end drew near, our time ran out, for our end had come!
WEBThey hunt our steps, so that we can’t go in our streets. Our end is near. Our days are fulfilled, for our end has come.
ASVThey hunt our steps, so that we cannot go in our streets: Our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
YLTThey have hunted our steps from going in our broad-places, Near hath been our end, fulfilled our days, For come hath our end.
DARBYThey hunted our steps, that we could not go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
BBEThey go after our steps so that we may not go in our streets: our end is near, our days are numbered; for our end has come.
WebsterThey hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.

What does Lamentations 4:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
18. They--the Chaldeans. cannot go--without danger. Koph.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 We cannot go in our streets - Supposed to refer to the darts and other missiles cast from the mounds which they had raised on the outside of the walls, by which those who walked in the streets were grievously annoyed, and could not shield themselves.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Lamentations 4:13-20

Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the measure faster, than the sins of priests and prophets. The king himself cannot escape, for Divine vengeance pursues him. Our anointed King alone is the life of our souls; we may safely live under his shadow, and rejoice in Him in the midst of our enemies, for He is the true God and eternal life.

Read the full comment on Lamentations 4:13-20 →

Lamentations 4:18 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.

צָד֣וּtza.Duthey huntedH6679
צְעָדֵ֔ינוּtze.'a.Dei.nusteps ourH6806
מִלֶּ֖כֶתmi.Le.khetfrom walkingH1980
בִּרְחֹבֹתֵ֑ינוּbir.cho.Tei.nuin open places ourH7339
קָרַ֥בka.Ravit drew nearH7126
קִצֵּ֛ינוּki.Tzei.nuend ourH7093
מָלְא֥וּmal.'Uthey were completedH4390
יָמֵ֖ינוּya.Mei.nudays ourH3117
כִּי\־ki-forH3588
בָ֥אva'it had comeH935
קִצֵּֽינוּ\׃\ \סki.Tzei.nuend ourH7093

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

Cross references for Lamentations 4:18

  • Amos 8:2

    And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.

  • Psalms 140:11

    Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.

  • Ezekiel 7:2-12

    Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. …

  • Lamentations 3:52

    Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.

  • Jeremiah 16:16

    Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

  • 1 Samuel 24:14

    After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.

  • Job 10:16

    For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.

  • 2 Kings 25:4-5

    And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him.

  • Jeremiah 1:12

    Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

  • Jeremiah 39:4-5

    And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain. But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.

  • Ezekiel 12:27

    Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.

  • Jeremiah 52:7-9

    Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
hunt.
3:52; 1Sa 24:14; 2Ki 25:4,5; Job 10:16; Ps 140:11; Jer 16:16
Jer 39:4,5; 52:7-9
our end is near.
Jer 1:12; 51:33; Eze 7:2-12; 12:22,23,27; Am 8:2

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

Context

  • Lamentations 4:17

    As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.

  • Lamentations 4:18

    They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.

  • Lamentations 4:19

    Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

Read all of Lamentations 4

Lamentations 4:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Cazaron nuestros pasos, que no anduviésemos por nuestras calles: acercóse nuestro fin, cumpliéronse nuestros días; porque nuestro fin vino.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ils ont fait la chasse à nos pas, de manière que nous ne pouvions pas marcher sur nos places: notre fin est proche, nos jours sont accomplis; notre fin est venue!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Sie stellen unseren Schritten nach, daß wir auf unseren Straßen nicht gehen können. Unser Ende ist nahe, voll sind unsere Tage; ja, unser Ende ist gekommen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Lubricaverunt vestigia nostra in itinere platearum nostrarum; appropinquavit finis noster, completi sunt dies nostri, quia venit finis noster.