Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price. New Living Translation We have to pay for water to drink, and even firewood is expensive. English Standard Version We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought. Berean Standard Bible We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price. King James Bible We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. New King James Version We pay for the water we drink, And our wood comes at a price. New American Standard Bible We have to pay for our drinking water, Our wood comes to us at a price. NASB 1995 We have to pay for our drinking water, Our wood comes to us at a price. NASB 1977 We have to pay for our drinking water, Our wood comes to us at a price. Legacy Standard Bible We drink our water by means of silver; Our wood comes to us at a price. Amplified Bible We have to pay for our drinking water; Our wood comes to us at a price. Christian Standard Bible We must pay for the water we drink; our wood comes at a price. Holman Christian Standard Bible We must pay for the water we drink; our wood comes at a price. American Standard Version We have drunken our water for money; Our wood is sold unto us. Contemporary English Version The water we drink and the wood we burn cost far too much. English Revised Version We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. GOD'S WORD® Translation We have to pay to drink our own water. We have to pay to chop our own wood. Good News Translation We must pay for the water we drink; we must buy the wood we need for fuel. International Standard Version We pay to drink our own water, and our own wood is sold to us at high price. Majority Standard Bible We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price. NET Bible We must pay money for our own water; we must buy our own wood at a steep price. New Heart English Bible We have to pay for a drink of water; our wood is sold to us. Webster's Bible Translation We have drank our water for money; our wood is sold to us. World English Bible We must pay for water to drink. Our wood is sold to us. Literal Translations Literal Standard VersionWe have drunk our water for money, "" Our wood comes for a price. Young's Literal Translation Our water for money we have drunk, Our wood for a price doth come. Smith's Literal Translation We drank our water for silver; our wood will come for a price. Catholic Translations Douay-Rheims BibleWe have drunk our water for money: we have bought our wood. Catholic Public Domain Version We paid for our drinking water. We acquired our wood for a price. New American Bible We pay money to drink our own water, our own wood comes at a price. New Revised Standard Version We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought. Translations from Aramaic Lamsa BibleWe have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold to us. Peshitta Holy Bible Translated We are made to drink our water for money, and our wood is for a price OT Translations JPS Tanakh 1917We have drunk our water for money; Our wood cometh to us for price. Brenton Septuagint Translation We have drunk our water for money; our wood is sold to us for a burden on our neck: Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context A Prayer for Restoration…3We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows. 4We must buy the water we drink; our wood comes at a price. 5We are closely pursued; we are weary and find no rest.… Cross References Isaiah 55:1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Amos 8:11-13 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. / People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east, seeking the word of the LORD, but they will not find it. / In that day the lovely young women—the young men as well—will faint from thirst. John 4:13-14 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. / But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.” Revelation 21:6 And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. Psalm 42:1-2 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God. / My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence? Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation, John 7:37-38 On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. / Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’” Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely. Exodus 17:1-7 Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. / So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?” / But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” ... Numbers 20:2-11 Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron. / The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD! / Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? ... Nehemiah 9:15 In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land that You had sworn to give them. Psalm 63:1 A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water. Isaiah 41:17 The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. Treasury of Scripture We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold to us. have 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. Isaiah 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, Ezekiel 4:9-17 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof… is sold. Jump to Previous Bought Buy Drank Drink Drinking Drunk Drunken Money Pay Price Sold Water WoodJump to Next Bought Buy Drank Drink Drinking Drunk Drunken Money Pay Price Sold Water WoodLamentations 5 1. A complaint of Zion in prayer unto God.We must buy The phrase "we must buy" indicates a situation of dire necessity and economic hardship. In the Hebrew text, the word used here is "קָנִינוּ" (qaninu), which means to acquire or purchase. This reflects the desperate conditions faced by the Israelites during the Babylonian exile. Historically, Jerusalem was under siege, and resources were scarce. The need to purchase basic necessities like water, which should have been freely available, underscores the severity of their plight. This phrase serves as a poignant reminder of the consequences of turning away from God, as the Israelites had done, leading to their captivity and suffering. the water we drink our wood comes at a price Persons / Places / Events 1. JeremiahTraditionally considered the author of Lamentations, Jeremiah is known as the "weeping prophet." He lamented the destruction of Jerusalem and the suffering of his people. 2. Jerusalem The city that was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC, leading to the lamentations and mourning expressed in this book. 3. Babylonian Exile The event during which the Israelites were taken captive by the Babylonians, leading to the hardships described in Lamentations. Teaching Points Dependence on God for ProvisionLamentations 5:4 highlights the basic human need for water, a necessity that was difficult to obtain during the Babylonian siege. This reminds us of our dependence on God for our daily needs and the importance of trusting Him to provide. The Consequences of Sin The suffering described in Lamentations is a direct result of the people's disobedience to God. This serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of sin and the importance of repentance and obedience. Spiritual Thirst and Fulfillment While the verse speaks of physical thirst, it also points to a deeper spiritual thirst that only God can satisfy. Believers are encouraged to seek the "living water" that Jesus offers, which leads to eternal life. Empathy and Compassion for the Suffering Understanding the historical context of Lamentations can cultivate empathy for those who suffer today. Christians are called to be compassionate and to help meet the needs of others, both physically and spiritually.(4) Our water . . . our wood.--The point of the complaint lies in the possessive pronoun. The Chaldaean conquerors were in possession of the country, and the very necessaries of life, which had been looked on as the common property of all, were only to be had for money. In the Hebrew of the first clause the fact appears yet more emphatically: Our water comes to us for money. The words have been referred by some commentators to the sufferings of the exiles in Egypt, but the context fits in better with the idea of the hardships of those who were left in Judah.Verse 4. - We have drunken our water, etc. The Jews were not yet carried away to Babylonia when this was written, but had to pay a dear price to the new lords of the soil for the commonest necessaries of life. Parallel Commentaries ... Hebrew We must buyבְּכֶ֣סֶף (bə·ḵe·sep̄) Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular Strong's 3701: Silver, money the water מֵימֵ֙ינוּ֙ (mê·mê·nū) Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common plural Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen we drink; שָׁתִ֔ינוּ (šā·ṯî·nū) Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common plural Strong's 8354: To imbibe our wood עֵצֵ֖ינוּ (‘ê·ṣê·nū) Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common plural Strong's 6086: Tree, trees, wood comes יָבֹֽאוּ׃ (yā·ḇō·’ū) Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go at a price. בִּמְחִ֥יר (bim·ḥîr) Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular Strong's 4242: Price, payment, wages Links Lamentations 5:4 NIVLamentations 5:4 NLT Lamentations 5:4 ESV Lamentations 5:4 NASB Lamentations 5:4 KJV Lamentations 5:4 BibleApps.com Lamentations 5:4 Biblia Paralela Lamentations 5:4 Chinese Bible Lamentations 5:4 French Bible Lamentations 5:4 Catholic Bible OT Prophets: Lamentations 5:4 We have drunken our water for money (Lam. 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