Lamentations 3:56

You heard my plea: “Do not ignore my cry for relief.”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The afflicted speaker addresses the LORD immediately after calling from the depths of the Pit and just before receiving God’s assurance not to fear. The words — The text emphasizes שָמַעְתָּ (sha.ma.'e.ta) meaning "you heard" and תַּעְלֵם (ta'.lem) meaning "you hide," describing God’s refusal to conceal His ear from the speaker’s plea. The thread — This pattern of divine attention to desperate cries runs through Job 34:28, Isaiah 38:5, and Psalms 6:8, where God consistently registers the outcry of the afflicted. Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to accept that God’s hearing is an active commitment rather than passive awareness, demanding trust that appeals for relief will not be met with indifference.

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

קוֹלִ֖יko.L/ivoice/ my שָׁמָ֑עְתָּsha.Ma.'e.tayou heard אַל־'al-may not תַּעְלֵ֧םta'.Lemyou hide אָזְנְךָ֛'a.ze.ne./Khaear/ your לְרַוְחָתִ֖יle./rav.cha.T/ito/ relief/ my לְשַׁוְעָתִֽי׃le./shav.'a.T/ito/ cry for help/ my

King James Version

Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.

Cross-references

Job 34:28 They caused the cry of the poor to come before Him, and He heard the outcry of the afflicted.
Isaiah 38:5 “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
Psalms 6:8 Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard my weeping.
Psalms 34:6 This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.
Psalms 55:1 For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. Listen to my prayer, O God, and do not ignore my plea.
Psalms 88:13 But to You, O LORD, I cry for help; in the morning my prayer comes before You.
2 Chronicles 33:13 And when he prayed to Him, the LORD received his plea and heard his petition. So He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.
Psalms 3:4 To the LORD I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy mountain. Selah
Psalms 66:19 But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer.
Psalms 116:1 I love the LORD, for He has heard my voice—my appeal for mercy.