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Lamentations 3:26

It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh.

  • KJV King James Version

    It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    It is good that a man should quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

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Cross-references (18)

Passages linked to Lamentations 3:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Psalms 37:7 Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.
  • Psalms 37:34 Wait for Yahweh, and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
  • Psalms 130:5 I wait for Yahweh. My soul waits. I hope in his word.
  • Genesis 49:18 I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.
  • Hebrews 10:35 Therefore don’t throw away your boldness, which has a great reward.
  • Isaiah 30:15 For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, “You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence.” You refused,
  • Hebrews 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm to the end,
  • 1 Peter 1:13 Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ—
  • Psalms 119:166 I have hoped for your salvation, Yahweh. I have done your commandments.
  • 2 Chronicles 20:17 You will not need to fight this battle. Set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed. Go out against them tomorrow, for Yahweh is with you.’ ”
  • Psalms 119:174 I have longed for your salvation, Yahweh. Your law is my delight.
  • Psalms 52:9 I will give you thanks forever, because you have done it. I will hope in your name, for it is good, in the presence of your saints.
  • Psalms 54:6 With a free will offering, I will sacrifice to you. I will give thanks to your name, Yahweh, for it is good.
  • Psalms 73:28 But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord Yahweh my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
  • Isaiah 30:7 For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose; therefore I have called her Rahab who sits still.
  • Galatians 4:18 But it is always good to be zealous in a good cause, and not only when I am present with you.
  • Psalms 92:1 It is a good thing to give thanks to Yahweh, to sing praises to your name, Most High,
  • Exodus 14:13 Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today; for you will never again see the Egyptians whom you have seen today.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (10 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain It is, indeed, an abrupt phrase when he says,…

It is, indeed, an abrupt phrase when he says, Good and he will wait; for these words are without a subject; but as it is a general statement, there is no ambiguity. The Prophet means that it is good to hope and to be silent as to the salvation, of God. Then the verbs in the future tense ought to be rendered its subjunctives, as though it was said, “It is good when any one hopes in the salvation of Jehovah, and is silent, that is, bears patiently all his troubles until God succors him.”

But; the Prophet here reminds us, that we are by no means to require that God should always appear to us, and that his paternal favor should always shine forth on our life. This is, indeed, a condition sought for by all; for the flesh inclines us to this, and hence we shun adversities. We, then, naturally desire God’s favor to be manifested to us; how? In reality, so that all things may go on prosperously, that no trouble may touch us, that we may be tormented by no anxiety, that no danger may be suspended over us, that no calamity may threaten us: these things, as I have said, we all naturally seek and desire. But in such a case faith would be extinguished, as Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Romans,

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“For we hope not,” he says, “for what appears, but we hope for what, is hidden.” (Romans 8:24, 25.)

It is necessary in this world that the faithful should, as to outward things, be miserable, at one time exposed to want, at another subject to various dangers — at; one time exposed to reproaches and calumnies, at another harassed by losses: why so? because there would be no occasion for exercising hope, were our salvation complete. This is the very thing which the Prophet now teaches us, when he declares that it is good for us to learn in silence to wait for the salvation of God.

But to express more clearly his mind, he first says, He will wait, or hope. He teaches the need of patience, as also the Apostle does, in Hebrew 10:36; for otherwise there can be no faith. It hence appears, that where there is no patience, there is not even a spark of faith in the heart of man; how so? because this is our happiness, to wait or to hope; and we hope for what is hidden. But in the second clause he explains himself still more clearly by saying, and will be silent To be silent means often in Scripture to rest, to be still; and here it signifies no other thing than to bear the troubles allotted to us, with a calm and resigned mind. He is then said to be silent to God, who remains quiet even when afflictions supply occasion for clamoring; and hence this quietness is opposed to violent feelings; for when some trouble presses on us, we become turbulent, and are carried away by our fury, at one time we quarrel with God, at another we pour forth various complaints. The same thing also happens, when we see some danger, for we tremble, and then we seek remedies here and there, and that with great eagerness. But he who patiently bears his troubles, or who recumbs on God when dangers surround him, is said to be silent or to rest quietly; and hence the words of Isaiah, “In hope and silence;” for he there exhorts the faithful to patience, and shews where strength is, even when we trust in God, so as willingly to submit to His will, and to be ready to bear his chastisements, and then when we doubt not but that he will be ready to bring us help when we are in danger. (Isaiah 30:15.)

We now perceive what the Prophet means when he says, that it. is good if we wait and be silent as to the salvation of God; even because our happiness is hid, and we are also like the dead, as Paul says, and our life is hid in Christ. (Colossians 3:3.) As then it is so, we must necessarily be silent as to God’s salvation, and cherish hope within, though surrounded with many miseries. It follows, —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lam 3:26 [It is] good that [a man] should…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Good here either signifies honestum, what becomes men, and…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain It is good that a man should both hope…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 26. It is good that a man should…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain quietly wait--literally, "be in silence." Compare Lam 3:28 and…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 26. Hope and quietly wait, etc. — More literally,…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (26) Quietly wait.—Literally, wait in silence: i.e. abstain from…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Should both hope and quietly wait; rather, should wait…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:26 Those who are confident of God’s plan can…

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