Lamentations 4:9

In 11 translations

BSB

Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.

KJV

They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.pine…: Heb. flow out

WEB

Those who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through, for lack of the fruits of the field.

ASV

They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger; For these pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the field.

LSV

Better have been the pierced of a sword || Than the pierced of famine, || For these flow away, pierced through, || Without the increase of the field.

YLT

Better have been the pierced of a sword Than the pierced of famine, For these flow away, pierced through, Without the increase of the field.

DBY

The slain with the sword are happier than the slain with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.

DRC

Teth. It was better with them that were slain by the sword, than with them that died with hunger: for these pined away being consumed for want of the fruits of the earth.

GNV

They that be slaine with the sword are better, then they that are killed with hunger: for they fade away as they were striken through for the fruites of the fielde.

JPS

They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the field.

LXXE

Teth. The slain with the sword were better than they that were slain with hunger: they have departed, pierced through from want of the fruits of the field.

Word by word Hebrew · tap a word

Words in brackets are English the glossers added; the Hebrew has no word for them, and they can carry a choice of tense or meaning.

Original-language editions

WLC

טוֹבִ֤ים הָיוּ֙ חַלְלֵי־חֶ֔רֶב מֵֽחַלְלֵ֖י רָעָ֑ב שֶׁ֣הֵ֤ם יָז֨וּבוּ֙ מְדֻקָּרִ֔ים מִתְּנוּבֹ֖ת שָׂדָֽי׃

LXX-Br

ΤΗΘ. Καλοὶ ἦσαν οἱ τραυματίαι ῥομφαίας, ἢ οἱ τραυματίαι λιμοῦ· ἐπορεύθησαν ἐκκεκεντημένοι ἀπὸ γεννημάτων ἀγρῶν.

In the reference works topics that cite this verse

From public-domain Bible dictionaries and topical indexes (1884–1915).

Cross-references most cited first

• Jeremiah 16:4“They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the air…
• Leviticus 26:39Those of you who survive in the lands of your enemies will waste away in their iniquity and will decay in the sins of their fathers.
• Ezekiel 24:23Your turbans will remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan among yourselves.
• Ezekiel 33:10Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?’

From the OpenBible.info cross-reference set (votes from readers; not every link is a quotation or allusion).