Lamentations 1:14
New International Version
“My sins have been bound into a yoke; by his hands they were woven together. They have been hung on my neck, and the Lord has sapped my strength. He has given me into the hands of those I cannot withstand.

New Living Translation
“He wove my sins into ropes to hitch me to a yoke of captivity. The Lord sapped my strength and turned me over to my enemies; I am helpless in their hands.

English Standard Version
“My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail; the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand.

Berean Standard Bible
My transgressions are bound into a yoke, knit together by His hand; they are draped over my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has delivered me into the hands of those I cannot withstand.

King James Bible
The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.

New King James Version
“The yoke of my transgressions was bound; They were woven together by His hands, And thrust upon my neck. He made my strength fail; The Lord delivered me into the hands of those whom I am not able to withstand.

New American Standard Bible
“The yoke of my wrongdoings is bound; By His hand they are woven together. They have come upon my neck; He has made my strength fail. The Lord has handed me over To those against whom I am not able to stand.

NASB 1995
“The yoke of my transgressions is bound; By His hand they are knit together. They have come upon my neck; He has made my strength fail. The Lord has given me into the hands Of those against whom I am not able to stand.

NASB 1977
“The yoke of my transgressions is bound; By His hand they are knit together; They have come upon my neck; He has made my strength fail; The Lord has given me into the hands Of those against whom I am not able to stand.

Legacy Standard Bible
The yoke of my transgressions is bound; By His hand they are knit together. They have come upon my neck; He has made my strength stumble. The Lord has given me into the hands Of those against whom I am not able to stand.

Amplified Bible
“The yoke of my transgressions is bound; By His hand they are knit and woven together. They have come upon my neck. He has made my strength fail; The Lord has put me into the hand Of those against whom I cannot stand.

Christian Standard Bible
My transgressions have been formed into a yoke, fastened together by his hand; they have been placed on my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
My transgressions have been formed into a yoke, fastened together by His hand; they have been placed on my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand.

American Standard Version
The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand; They are knit together, they are come up upon my neck; he hath made my strength to fail: The Lord hath delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand.

Contemporary English Version
You have tied my sins around my neck, and they weigh so heavily that my strength is gone. You have put me in the power of enemies too strong for me.

English Revised Version
The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand; they are knit together, they are come up upon my neck; he hath made my strength to fail: the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
My rebellious acts are a heavy burden for me. They were tied together by God's own hands. They were tied around my neck. He has weakened me [with them]. The Lord has handed me over to people I cannot oppose.

Good News Translation
"He took note of all my sins and tied them all together; He hung them around my neck, and I grew weak beneath the weight. The Lord gave me to my foes, and I was helpless against them.

International Standard Version
The yoke of my sins was bound on, fastened together by his hand. They settled on my neck; he caused my strength to fail. The LORD placed me in the power of those I cannot resist.

Majority Standard Bible
My transgressions are bound into a yoke, knit together by His hand; they are draped over my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has delivered me into the hands of those I cannot withstand.

NET Bible
My sins are bound around my neck like a yoke; they are fastened together by his hand. He has placed his yoke on my neck; he has sapped my strength. The Lord has handed me over to those whom I cannot resist.

New Heart English Bible
My transgressions are bound into a yoke; by his hand they are fastened together, they are set upon my neck; he has made my strength to fail. The LORD has delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand.

Webster's Bible Translation
The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise.

World English Bible
“The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand. They are knit together. They have come up on my neck. He made my strength fail. The Lord has delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Bound has been the yoke of my transgressions by His hand, "" They are wrapped together, "" They have gone up on my neck, "" He has caused my power to stumble, "" The Lord has given me into hands, I am not able to rise.

Young's Literal Translation
Bound hath been the yoke of my transgressions by His hand, They are wrapped together, They have gone up on my neck, He hath caused my power to stumble, The Lord hath given me into hands, I am not able to rise.

Smith's Literal Translation
The yoke of my transgressions was bound by his hand: they will be woven together, they came up upon my neck: he caused my strength to fail, Jehovah gave me into the hands; I shall not be able to rise up.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Nun. The yoke of my iniquities hath watched: they are folded together in his hand, and put upon my neck: my strength is weakened: the Lord hath delivered me into a hand out of which I am not able to rise.

Catholic Public Domain Version
NUN. Vigilant is the yoke of my iniquities. They have been folded together in his hand and imposed on my neck. My virtue has been weakened. The Lord has given me into a hand, out of which I am not able to rise.

New American Bible
The yoke of my rebellions is bound together, fastened by his hand. His yoke is upon my neck; he has made my strength fail. The Lord has delivered me into the grip of those I cannot resist.

New Revised Standard Version
My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they weigh on my neck, sapping my strength; the Lord handed me over to those whom I cannot withstand.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
My sins have wrought vengeance upon me; his yokes are bound by his hands upon my neck; my strength has failed; the LORD has delivered me into the hands of those before whom I cannot stand.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Nun My sins have awakened against me and by its hands its yokes are bound on my neck, and my power became weak, and LORD JEHOVAH has delivered me into the hands of him whose power I cannot match
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
The yoke of my transgressions is impressed by His hand; They are knit together, They are come up upon my neck; He hath made my strength to fail; The Lord hath delivered me into their hands, Against whom I am not able to stand.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
NUN. He has watched over my sins, they are twined about my hands, they have come up on my neck: my strength has failed; for the Lord has laid pains on my hands, I shall not be able to stand.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
How Lonely Lies the City
13He sent fire from on high, and it overpowered my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long. 14My transgressions are bound into a yoke, knit together by His hand; they are draped over my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has delivered me into the hands of those I cannot withstand. 15The Lord has rejected all the mighty men in my midst; He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. Like grapes in a winepress, the Lord has trampled the Virgin Daughter of Judah.…

Cross References
Isaiah 10:27
On that day the burden will be lifted from your shoulders, and the yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large.

Jeremiah 28:13-14
“Go and tell Hananiah that this is what the LORD says: ‘You have broken a yoke of wood, but in its place you have fashioned a yoke of iron.’ / For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have even given him control of the beasts of the field.’”

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 12:13
But I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, and there he will die.

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.

Isaiah 47:6
I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.

Jeremiah 30:8
On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will break the yoke off their necks and tear off their bonds, and no longer will strangers enslave them.

Isaiah 9:4
For as in the day of Midian You have shattered the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor.

Jeremiah 5:5
I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.

Ezekiel 17:19-20
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke. / I will spread My net over him and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there for the treason he committed against Me.

Matthew 11:28-30
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. / Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. / For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.

Romans 6:16
Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?

Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.

2 Corinthians 6:14
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?


Treasury of Scripture

The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up on my neck: he has made my strength to fall, the LORD has delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.

yoke

Deuteronomy 28:48
Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

Proverbs 5:22
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

Isaiah 14:25
That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

delivered

Jeremiah 25:9
Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

Jeremiah 34:20,21
I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth…

Jeremiah 37:17
Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

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Able Bound Delivered Fail Fall Hand Hands Impressed Knit Neck Stand Strength Together Transgressions Wreathed Yoke
Lamentations 1
1. The miseries of Jerusalem and of the Jews lamented
12. The attention of beholders demanded to this unprecedented case
18. The justice of God acknowledged, and his mercy supplicated.














My transgressions
The Hebrew word for "transgressions" is "פֶּשַׁע" (pesha), which refers to rebellion or willful sin. In the context of Lamentations, this term underscores the deliberate disobedience of the people of Judah against God's commandments. Historically, this rebellion led to the Babylonian exile, a period of intense suffering and reflection for the Israelites. The acknowledgment of personal and communal sin is a crucial step in the process of repentance and restoration.

are bound into a yoke
The imagery of a "yoke" (Hebrew: "עֹל" - ol) is significant in biblical literature, often symbolizing oppression and burden. In ancient agrarian societies, a yoke was used to harness animals for labor, representing control and subjugation. Here, the yoke signifies the heavy burden of sin that the people have brought upon themselves. It serves as a powerful reminder of the consequences of turning away from God and the weight of guilt that can only be lifted through divine intervention.

they are woven together by His hands
The phrase "woven together" suggests a deliberate and intricate process. The Hebrew root "שָׂרַג" (sarag) implies intertwining or interlacing. This indicates that the consequences of sin are not random but are intricately connected and orchestrated by God as a form of judgment. It reflects the biblical principle that God is sovereign and just, allowing the natural consequences of sin to unfold as a means of correction and eventual redemption.

they have been placed on my neck
The neck, in biblical symbolism, often represents submission or vulnerability. The placement of the yoke on the neck signifies the inescapable nature of the consequences of sin. It is a humbling acknowledgment of the powerlessness of humanity in the face of divine judgment. This imagery calls believers to submit to God's will and seek His mercy, recognizing that true freedom comes from surrendering to His authority.

and the Lord has broken my strength
The breaking of strength (Hebrew: "כֹּחַ" - koach) highlights the futility of relying on human power and wisdom in the face of divine discipline. Historically, the fall of Jerusalem and the subsequent exile demonstrated the collapse of Judah's political and military might. Spiritually, it serves as a reminder that human strength is insufficient without God's guidance and support. This humbling experience is intended to lead the people back to reliance on God.

He has delivered me into the hands of those I cannot withstand
The phrase "delivered me" (Hebrew: "נָתַן" - natan) indicates a transfer of control or power. In this context, it refers to God allowing the Babylonians to conquer Judah. The inability to withstand the enemy underscores the severity of the judgment and the complete dependence on God for deliverance. This serves as a call to repentance and a reminder of God's ultimate authority over nations and individuals. It encourages believers to trust in God's plan, even in times of adversity, knowing that He is both just and merciful.

(14) Is bound by his hand . . .--The verb is not found elsewhere, but was probably a technical term for the twisting of the thongs by which the yoke was fastened, the "yoke" in this case being the transgressions of Judah, which were as a sore burden too heavy to be borne.

He hath made.--Better, it hath made; i.e., the yoke which was above her strength to bear.

The Lord.--It is noticeable that here, and in thirteen other passages in this book, the word Adonai is used instead of the more usual Jehovah, as though the latter, the covenant Name of the God of Israel, was less appropriate in the lips of one who was under His condemnation.

Verse 14. - Is bound...are wreathed. The transgressions of Jerusalem are likened to a heavy yoke. So numerous are they that they are said to be "wreathed," or twisted together, like ropes. Into their hands. The Hebrew has simply "into hands;" following a suggestion of the Septuagint. Budde would read, "Into the hands of adversaries."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
My transgressions
פְּשָׁעַ֜י (pə·šā·‘ay)
Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 6588: Transgression

are bound into
נִשְׂקַד֩ (niś·qaḏ)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8244: Perhaps to bind on

a yoke,
עֹ֨ל (‘ōl)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5923: A yoke

knit together
יִשְׂתָּֽרְג֛וּ (yiś·tā·rə·ḡū)
Verb - Hitpael - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 8276: To be intertwined

by His hand;
בְּיָד֗וֹ (bə·yā·ḏōw)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3027: A hand

they have come
עָל֥וּ (‘ā·lū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

upon
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

my neck,
צַוָּארִ֖י (ṣaw·wā·rî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 6677: The back of the neck

and the Lord
אֲדֹנָ֔י (’ă·ḏō·nāy)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 136: The Lord

has broken
הִכְשִׁ֣יל (hiḵ·šîl)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3782: To totter, waver, to falter, stumble, faint, fall

my strength.
כֹּחִ֑י (kō·ḥî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 3581: A small reptile (of unknown species)

He has handed me over
נְתָנַ֣נִי (nə·ṯā·na·nî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular | first person common singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

to those I cannot
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

withstand.
קֽוּם׃ (qūm)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 6965: To arise, stand up, stand


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OT Prophets: Lamentations 1:14 The yoke of my transgressions is bound (Lam. La Lm)
Lamentations 1:13
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