Bible Strands
Lamentations 4:13
But this was for the sins of her prophets and the guilt of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous in her midst.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses the ruined city of Jerusalem, explaining why the siege and fall occurred when foreign kings and armies unexpectedly breached its gates. The text attributes the catastrophe directly to the moral failure of Jerusalem's religious leadership rather than military weakness.
The words — The Hebrew חַטֹּאת (cha.Tot) means sins of the prophets, and עֲוֹנ֖וֹת (a.vo.Not) means iniquities or guilt of the priests. These paired terms highlight the dual culpability of both prophetic and priestly offices in enabling violence.
The thread — This indictment of corrupt religious leaders runs parallel to Jeremiah 5:31, Jeremiah 6:13, and Jeremiah 26:8, where prophets and priests are repeatedly condemned for false teaching, greed, and leading the people astray.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that national disaster stems from institutional religious failure rather than mere political or military weakness. It requires readers to examine whether their own spiritual authorities are upholding justice or enabling violence against the innocent.
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
For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
- Jeremiah 6:13 “For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
- Jeremiah 26:8 and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must surely die!
- Lamentations 2:14 The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.
- Ezekiel 22:26 Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
- Matthew 23:31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.
- Jeremiah 2:20 “For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.
- Jeremiah 14:14 “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds.
- Jeremiah 23:11 “For both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the LORD.
- Micah 3:11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”