Lamentations 3:8

Also, when I cry out desperately ¹  for help, ²  he has shut out my prayer. ³ 

Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.

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

And though I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayers.

Even when I cry out and plead for help, he locks up my prayers and throws away the key.

Even when I send up a cry for help, he keeps my prayer shut out.

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

Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer.

Also, when I cry out desperately ¹  for help, ²  he has shut out my prayer. ³ 

¹ tn Heb “I call and I cry out.” The verbs אֶזְעַק וַאֲשַׁוֵּעַ (’ez’aq va’asha’vvea’, “I call and I cry out”) form a verbal hendiadys: the second retains its full verbal sense, while the first functions adverbially: “I cry out desperately.”

² tn The verb שׁוע (“to cry out”) usually refers to calling out to God for help or deliverance from a lamentable plight (e.g., Job 30:20; 36:13; 38:41; Pss 5:3; 18:7, 42; 22:25; 28:2; 30:3; 31:23; 88:14; 119:147; Isa 58:9; Lam 3:8; Jon 2:3; Hab 1:2).

³ tn The verb שָׂתַם (satam) is a hapax legomenon (term that appears in the Hebrew scriptures only once) that means “to stop up” or “shut out.” It functions as an idiom here, meaning “he has shut his ears to my prayer” (BDB 979 s.v.).