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Psalm 79:3
They have shed their blood like water around Jerusalem. There was no one to bury them.
1A Psalm by Asaph. God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
2They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth.
3They have shed their blood like water around Jerusalem. There was no one to bury them.
4We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us.
5How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
Notice
Blood poured out like water around Jerusalem, followed by bodies left unburied, makes the horror of slaughter and the absence of care hard to pass over.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What does the comparison of blood to water convey about the violence around Jerusalem?
Write on thisWhat does the absence of anyone to bury the dead add to this lament?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
2 Samuel 14:14For we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground, which can’t be gathered up again; neither does God take away life, but devises means, that he who is …Both passages compare human life lost in death to water poured onto the ground.
Jeremiah 25:33The slain of the LORD will be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They won’t be lamented. They won’t be gathered or …Both describe slaughter followed by the dead remaining unburied, extending the horror beyond the killing itself.
Jeremiah 14:16The people to whom they prophesy will be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. They will have no one to bury them—them, …Both describe death in Jerusalem with no one left to bury the bodies.
Jeremiah 16:4“They will die grievous deaths. They will not be lamented, neither will they be buried. They will be as dung on the surface of the ground. They will be …Both describe people dying and remaining unburied; Jeremiah also names famine and the sword.
Revelation 11:9From among the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations, people will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies …Both describe unburied bodies, though Revelation names people refusing burial while the psalm says no one was there to bury them.
Genesis 50:5‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now therefore, please let me go …Burial is their shared concern: Genesis records a father's burial request, while the psalm records the absence of anyone to bury the dead.
Matthew 23:35that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed …Both speak of blood shed through killing, with Matthew naming Abel and Zachariah among the righteous dead.
Romans 8:36Even as it is written, “For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”Both speak of people being slaughtered; Romans describes those killed for God's sake, while the psalm names bloodshed around Jerusalem.
Psalm 141:7“As when one plows and breaks up the earth, our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.”Both describe human remains left exposed, with unburied bodies in Psalm 79 and scattered bones in Psalm 141.
Jeremiah 15:3“I will appoint over them four kinds,” says the LORD: “the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, the birds of the sky, and the animals of the earth, to devour and …Both describe lethal violence; Jeremiah names the sword and devouring animals, while the psalm describes bloodshed and unburied bodies.
Psalm 79:10Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants’ blood is being poured …The bloodshed reported in verse 3 becomes the subject of a plea for vengeance before God in verse 10.
Revelation 16:6For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.”Both describe blood being poured out through killing; Revelation also declares judgment upon those who shed it.
Where this verse fits
Grief. injustice and anger.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Such horror can be named before God without softening its details. This psalm addresses him from a ruined city, where even burial has become impossible.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).