Bible Strands
Lamentations 5:4
We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The remnant of Judah speaks to God, describing their post-destruction state as fatherless orphans and widows who are exhausted and closely pursued.
The words — בְּכֶסֶף (be./Khe.sef) = for money and בִּמְחִיר (bi/m.Chir) = for a price. These terms anchor the verse's literal statement that water and firewood, normally free, now require payment.
The thread — This collapse of basic sustenance mirrors Isaiah 3:1, where God removes Jerusalem's supply and support, and Deuteronomy 28:48, which predicts thirst and destitution under enemy siege. Ezekiel 4:9 further depicts forced rationing as a structural element of judgment.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that total economic ruin leaves no margin for survival, forcing a direct confrontation with the consequences of broken covenant.
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
We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 3:1 For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,
- Deuteronomy 28:48 you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
- Ezekiel 4:9 But take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. This is what you are to eat during the 390 days you lie on your side.