Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Lamentations 4:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse gives a cause in prophets' sins and priests' shedding of righteous blood.
Read It With
- Lamentations 4:13-16
Read Lamentations 4:13 with 4:13-16. This verse gives a cause in prophets' sins and priests' shedding of righteous blood. The complete unit establishes this movement: Prophets and priests are charged with shedding righteous blood; polluted by violence, they wander, are told to depart, find no place among nations, and lose the respect attached to religious and elder status.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The poem follows astonishing breach with a leadership cause, then turns from internal failure to failed foreign help. Within that movement, this verse gives a cause in prophets' sins and priests' shedding of righteous blood.
Follow the Context
- Prophets' sins and priests' iniquities are linked to righteous blood shed in the city.
- The guilty wander like blind people and bear blood pollution.
- Others cry 'depart' and refuse contact or settlement.
- The LORD scatters them, and offices no longer command regard.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“For the sins of her prophets”
In plain language: This verse gives a cause in prophets' sins and priests' shedding of righteous blood.
Religious office cannot shield lethal injustice from accountability.
Why it matters: The wording carries textual, theological, ethical, or pastoral risk requiring its complete unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not condemn every priest or prophet, bypass evidence, or transfer leader guilt to victims.
What Remains True
Religious office cannot shield lethal injustice from accountability.
How It Can Shape Life
- Investigate leaders fairly and protect those harmed.
Teach It Back
Explain Lamentations 4:13's contribution to Lamentations 4:13-16: gives a cause in prophets' sins and priests' shedding of righteous blood. Include the surrounding alphabet stanza, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Lamentations 4:13-16 — Leadership Bloodguilt, Pollution, and ExpulsionSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The charge is clear, but no individual leaders or cases are named.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and canonical verse coverage.
Exact location: Lamentations 4:13-16, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Lamentations
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, alphabet sequence, person and number, repeated vocabulary, and translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Lam.xml, OSIS Lam.4.13-Lam.4.16
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Lamentations with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level Hebrew, syntax, textual, acrostic, literary, historical, and translation notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Lamentations PDF, printed pp. 1571-1575, translation and notes on 4:13-16
Open source ↗