Bible Strands
Lamentations 3:59
You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me; vindicate my cause!
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses Yahweh directly in a moment of acute distress, following a plea for defense and redemption in verse 58 and preceding a description of the speaker's enemies' malice in verse 60.
The words — רָאִ֤יתָה (ra.'I.tah) translates literally as "you have seen," and שָׁפְטָ֖/ה (sha.fe.Ta/h) means "judge" or "vindicate," anchoring the plea in divine observation and legal action.
The thread — This appeal to divine sight and judicial intervention recurs in Psalms 43:1, Genesis 31:42, and Psalms 9:4, where petitioners consistently ground their requests for deliverance in God's awareness of injustice.
Why it lands — The verse states that God has witnessed the speaker's oppression and commands immediate judicial action, requiring the reader to direct appeals for justice to God's sight rather than human systems.
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
O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.
Cross-references
- Psalms 43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.
- Genesis 31:42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”
- Psalms 9:4 For You have upheld my just cause; You sit on Your throne judging righteously.
- Psalms 26:1 Of David. Vindicate me, O LORD! For I have walked with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
- Psalms 35:1 Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.
- 1 Peter 2:23 When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.
- Psalms 35:23 Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!
- Jeremiah 18:18 Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”
- Jeremiah 20:7 You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
- Jeremiah 37:1 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah son of Josiah the king of Judah, and he reigned in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim.