Lamentations 3:8
New International Version
Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.

New Living Translation
And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers.

English Standard Version
though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;

Berean Standard Bible
Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer.

King James Bible
Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

New King James Version
Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer.

New American Standard Bible
Even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer.

NASB 1995
Even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer.

NASB 1977
Even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer.

Legacy Standard Bible
Even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer.

Amplified Bible
Even when I cry out and shout for help, He shuts out my prayer.

Christian Standard Bible
Even when I cry out and plead for help, he blocks out my prayer.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Even when I cry out and plead for help, He rejects my prayer.

American Standard Version
Yea, when I cry, and call for help, he shutteth out my prayer.

Contemporary English Version
Even when I shouted and prayed for help, he refused to listen.

English Revised Version
Yea, when I cry and call for help, he shutteth out my prayer.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Even when I cry and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.

Good News Translation
I cry aloud for help, but God refuses to listen;

International Standard Version
Indeed, when I cry out, calling for help, he shuts out my prayer.

Majority Standard Bible
Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer.

NET Bible
Also, when I cry out desperately for help, he has shut out my prayer.

New Heart English Bible
Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.

Webster's Bible Translation
Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

World English Bible
Yes, when I cry, and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Also when I call and cry out, "" He has shut out my prayer.

Young's Literal Translation
Also when I call and cry out, He hath shut out my prayer.

Smith's Literal Translation
Also when I shall exclaim and cry out, he stopped my prayer.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Ghimel. Yea, and when I cry, and entreat, he hath shut out my prayer.

Catholic Public Domain Version
GHIMEL. Yet even when I cry out and beg, he excludes my prayer.

New American Bible
Even when I cry for help, he stops my prayer;

New Revised Standard Version
though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Though I beseech and pray, he does not hearken to my prayer.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Even if I shall seek and pray, he does not hear my prayer .
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Yea, when I cry and call for help, He shutteth out my prayer.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
GIMEL. Yea, though I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayer.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jeremiah's Afflictions
7He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains. 8Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer. 9He has barred my ways with cut stones; He has made my paths crooked.…

Cross References
Psalm 22:2
I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest.

Job 30:20
I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.

Isaiah 1:15
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

Psalm 18:41
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—to the LORD, but He did not answer.

Proverbs 1:28
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.

Micah 3:4
Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.

Jeremiah 11:11
Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them.

Isaiah 59:2
But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

Ezekiel 8:18
Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”

Psalm 66:18
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

1 Peter 3:12
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

James 4:3
And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

Matthew 7:7-8
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. / For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

John 9:31
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will.

1 John 5:14-15
And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. / And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him.


Treasury of Scripture

Also when I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayer.

Lamentations 3:44
Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.

Job 19:7
Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.

Job 30:20
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.

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Cry Help Keeps Prayer Shout Shut Shuts Shutteth
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Cry Help Keeps Prayer Shout Shut Shuts Shutteth
Lamentations 3
1. The prophet bewails his own calamities
22. By the mercies of God, he nourishes his hope
37. He acknowledges God's justice
55. He prays for deliverance
64. And vengeance on his enemies














Even when I cry out
The Hebrew word for "cry out" is "זָעַק" (za'aq), which conveys a sense of deep distress and urgency. This word is often used in the Old Testament to describe a cry for help in times of great need or oppression. In the context of Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah is expressing the profound anguish of the people of Judah during the Babylonian siege and exile. This cry is not just a casual request but a desperate plea from the depths of suffering. Historically, this reflects the period of intense turmoil and destruction that befell Jerusalem, emphasizing the gravity of the situation.

and plead for help
The phrase "plead for help" comes from the Hebrew "שִׁוַּע" (shava), which means to cry out for deliverance or salvation. This is a common theme in the Psalms and other poetic books of the Bible, where the faithful call upon God in times of trouble. The use of this phrase indicates a recognition of God's power to save and a reliance on His mercy. In the historical context of Lamentations, it underscores the hope that despite the dire circumstances, God remains the ultimate source of rescue and redemption.

He shuts out my prayer
The phrase "shuts out" is translated from the Hebrew "סָתַם" (satam), meaning to close or block. This conveys a sense of divine silence or inaccessibility, which can be deeply troubling for the believer. In the context of Lamentations, this reflects the feeling of abandonment experienced by the Israelites during their exile. Theologically, this can be understood as a period of testing or judgment, where God allows His people to experience the consequences of their actions. However, it also serves as a reminder of the importance of repentance and the hope of eventual restoration. The historical backdrop of the Babylonian captivity provides a vivid illustration of the consequences of turning away from God, yet it also points to the enduring promise of His faithfulness and mercy.

(8) He shutteth out my prayer--i.e., stops it so that it does not reach the ear of Jehovah; and it is Jehovah himself who does this.

Verse 8. - He shutteth out my prayer. There is a kind of barrier through which these futile prayers cannot penetrate (comp. on ver. 44).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Even
גַּ֣ם (gam)
Conjunction
Strong's 1571: Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and

when
כִּ֤י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

I cry out
אֶזְעַק֙ (’ez·‘aq)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 2199: To shriek, to announce, convene publicly

and plead for help,
וַאֲשַׁוֵּ֔עַ (wa·’ă·šaw·wê·a‘)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7768: To be free, to halloo

He shuts out
שָׂתַ֖ם (śā·ṯam)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5640: To stop up, to repair, to keep secret

my prayer.
תְּפִלָּתִֽי׃ (tə·p̄il·lā·ṯî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 8605: Intercession, supplication, a hymn


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OT Prophets: Lamentations 3:8 Yes when I cry and call (Lam. La Lm)
Lamentations 3:7
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