Bible Strands
Lamentations 3:38
Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text records a rhetorical question posed by the prophet to the suffering community during Jerusalem's destruction. Interpreters observe this shifts the focus from human complaint to divine sovereignty.
The words — The text places תֵצֵא (te.Tze', "goes forth") and הָרָעוֹת וְהַטּוֹב (ha.ra.'ot ve.ha.Tov, "troubles and good") at מִפִּי עֶלְיוֹן (mi./Pi 'el.yOn, "from the mouth of the Most High"). Interpreters note this phrasing establishes God as the sole source of both disaster and blessing.
The thread — The text connects this idea to Isaiah 45:7, which states God creates both light and darkness and brings prosperity and calamity. It also links to Amos 3:6 and Jeremiah 32:42, which attribute sudden disaster and future restoration directly to the Lord.
Why it lands — The text demands that readers stop complaining about their circumstances. Interpreters conclude this requires submitting to God's sovereign control before examining personal guilt.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 45:7 I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
- Amos 3:6 If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
- Jeremiah 32:42 For this is what the LORD says: Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so I will bring on them all the good I have promised them.
- Job 2:10 “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
- Psalms 75:7 but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.
- Proverbs 29:26 Many seek the ruler’s favor, but a man receives justice from the LORD.