Lamentations 5:7
New International Version
Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.

New Living Translation
Our ancestors sinned, but they have died— and we are suffering the punishment they deserved!

English Standard Version
Our fathers sinned, and are no more; and we bear their iniquities.

Berean Standard Bible
Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment.

King James Bible
Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.

New King James Version
Our fathers sinned and are no more, But we bear their iniquities.

New American Standard Bible
Our fathers sinned, and are gone; It is we who have been burdened with the punishment for their wrongdoings.

NASB 1995
Our fathers sinned, and are no more; It is we who have borne their iniquities.

NASB 1977
Our fathers sinned, and are no more; It is we who have borne their iniquities.

Legacy Standard Bible
Our fathers sinned; they are no more; It is we who have borne their iniquities.

Amplified Bible
Our fathers sinned, and are no more; It is we who have carried their sin.

Christian Standard Bible
Our ancestors sinned; they no longer exist, but we bear their punishment.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Our fathers sinned; they no longer exist, but we bear their punishment.

American Standard Version
Our fathers sinned, and are not; And we have borne their iniquities.

Contemporary English Version
Our ancestors sinned, but they are dead, and we are left to pay for their sins.

English Revised Version
Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Our ancestors sinned. Now they are gone, [but] we have to take the punishment for their wickedness.

Good News Translation
Our ancestors sinned, but now they are gone, and we are suffering for their sins.

International Standard Version
Our ancestors sinned and no longer exist yet we continue to bear the consequences of their sin.

Majority Standard Bible
Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment.

NET Bible
Our forefathers sinned and are dead, but we suffer their punishment.

New Heart English Bible
Our fathers sinned, and are no more; but we have borne their iniquities.

Webster's Bible Translation
Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.

World English Bible
Our fathers sinned, and are no more. We have borne their iniquities.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Our fathers have sinned—they are not, "" We have borne their iniquities.

Young's Literal Translation
Our fathers have sinned -- they are not, We their iniquities have borne.

Smith's Literal Translation
Our fathers sinned, they are not; we bore their iniquities.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Our fathers have sinned, and are not: and we have borne their iniquities.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Our fathers have sinned, and are not. And we have carried their iniquities.

New American Bible
Our ancestors, who sinned, are no more; but now we bear their guilt.

New Revised Standard Version
Our ancestors sinned; they are no more, and we bear their iniquities.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Our fathers have sinned, and are no more; and we have borne their iniquities.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Our fathers sinned and they are not, and we carry their sins
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Our fathers have sinned, and are not; And we have borne their iniquities.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Our fathers sinned, and are not: we have borne their iniquities.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
A Prayer for Restoration
6We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. 7Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment. 8Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hands.…

Cross References
Exodus 20:5
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Ezekiel 18:2-4
“What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge’? / As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. / Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

Jeremiah 31:29-30
“In those days, it will no longer be said: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’ / Instead, each will die for his own iniquity. If anyone eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will be set on edge.

Deuteronomy 24:16
Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.

Numbers 14:18
‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’

2 Kings 17:14-15
But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God. / They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.

Isaiah 65:6-7
Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps, / both for your iniquities and for those of your fathers,” says the LORD. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.”

Psalm 79:8
Do not hold past sins against us; let Your compassion come quickly, for we are brought low.

Jeremiah 14:20
We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the guilt of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against You.

Daniel 9:16
O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, I pray that Your anger and wrath may turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all around us.

Matthew 23:32-36
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers. / You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell? / Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town. ...

Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.

John 9:2-3
and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” / Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.

1 Corinthians 15:21-22
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. / For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,


Treasury of Scripture

Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.

fathers

Exodus 20:5
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Jeremiah 16:12
And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:

Jeremiah 31:29
In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.

and are

Genesis 42:13,36
And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not…

Job 7:8,21
The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not…

Jeremiah 31:15
Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

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Lamentations 5
1. A complaint of Zion in prayer unto God.














Our fathers sinned
The phrase "Our fathers sinned" refers to the collective transgressions of the ancestors of the Israelites. In Hebrew, the word for "fathers" is "אָבוֹתֵינוּ" (avoteinu), which signifies not just immediate parents but forebears and predecessors. This highlights the biblical principle of generational sin, where the consequences of one's actions can affect subsequent generations. Historically, this reflects the period of the Babylonian exile, where the Israelites were suffering due to the accumulated sins of their ancestors, such as idolatry and disobedience to God's commandments. This phrase calls believers to reflect on the importance of righteous living and the impact of their actions on future generations.

and are no more
The phrase "and are no more" indicates that the forefathers have passed away. In the Hebrew text, "וְאֵינָם" (v'einam) suggests a finality to their existence on earth. This serves as a reminder of the mortality of man and the inevitable judgment that follows. Theologically, it underscores the transient nature of life and the urgency of repentance and obedience to God. The historical context here is the destruction and desolation left in the wake of the Babylonian conquest, where many lives were lost, and the nation was left in ruins.

but we bear their punishment
The phrase "but we bear their punishment" reveals the concept of inherited consequences. The Hebrew word for "punishment" is "עֲוֹנוֹתֵיהֶם" (avonoteihem), which can also be translated as "iniquities" or "guilt." This reflects the biblical understanding that while each individual is responsible for their own sin, the repercussions of sin can extend beyond the individual to affect the community and future generations. This is seen in the context of the Babylonian exile, where the current generation of Israelites was enduring the consequences of their ancestors' disobedience. From a conservative Christian perspective, this highlights the need for personal and communal repentance and the hope found in Christ, who breaks the cycle of sin and offers redemption.

(7) We have borne their iniquities.--The words seem at first parallel to the proverb of the "sour grapes" in Jeremiah 31:29; Ezekiel 18:2. Here, however, it is followed in Lamentations 5:16 by a confession of personal guilt, and the complaint is simply that the former generation of offenders had passed away without the punishment which now fell upon their descendants, who thus had to bear, as it were, a double penalty.

Verse 7. - We have borne their iniquities. The fathers died before the iniquity was fully ripe for punishment, and their descendants have the feeling that the accumulated sins of the nation are visited upon them. This view of national troubles is very clearly endorsed by one important class of passages (Exodus 20:5; Exodus 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Jeremiah 32:18). The objection to it is forcibly expressed by Job (Job 21:19), "God [it is said] layeth up his iniquity for his children: [but] let him requite it to himself, that he may feel it!" Hence Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:30) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 18:1, etc.) insist on the truth that every man is punished for his own sins. Of course the two views of punishment are reconcilable. The Jews were not only punished, according to Jeremiah 16:11, 12, for their fathers' sins, but for their own still more flagrant offences.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Our fathers
אֲבֹתֵ֤ינוּ (’ă·ḇō·ṯê·nū)
Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common plural
Strong's 1: Father

sinned
חָֽטְאוּ֙ (ḥā·ṭə·’ū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 2398: To miss, to sin, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, lead astray, condemn

[and are] no more,
וְאֵינָ֔ם (wə·’ê·nām)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb | third person masculine plural
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

but we
וַאֲנַ֖חְנוּ (wa·’ă·naḥ·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - first person common plural
Strong's 587: We

bear
סָבָֽלְנוּ׃ (sā·ḇā·lə·nū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common plural
Strong's 5445: To carry, be burdensome, to be gravid

their punishment.
עֲוֺנֹתֵיהֶ֥ם (‘ă·wō·nō·ṯê·hem)
Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5771: Iniquity, guilt, punishment for iniquity


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OT Prophets: Lamentations 5:7 Our fathers sinned and are no more (Lam. La Lm)
Lamentations 5:6
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