Jeremiah 20:16

Jeremiah 20:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;
• New International Version (NIV)May that man be like the towns the Lord overthrew without pity. May he hear wailing in the morning, a battle cry at noon.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Let that man be like the cities that the Lord overthrew without pity; let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm at noon,
• New King James Version (NKJV)And let that man be like the cities Which the Lord overthrew, and did not relent; Let him hear the cry in the morning And the shouting at noon,

Context of Jeremiah 20:16

14I would like to curse the day that I was born. That day was not a happy day, the day that my mother gave birth to me. 15That day, a man told my father, ‘Good news! You have a son!’ I would like to curse that man too. May the Lord destroy that man, as he completely destroyed those cities long ago. I want that man to hear people who are weeping in the morning. I want him to hear the noise of battles at noon. 17He should have killed me before I was born. I should have died inside my mother. She would have held me inside her. That would have been my grave for ever. 18I should have stayed in that safe place. In my life, I only receive trouble and pain. When I die, all I will have is shame.

Jeremiah 20:16 word by word

וְהָיָה֙ הָאִ֣ישׁ הַה֔וּא כֶּֽעָרִ֛ים אֲשֶׁר־הָפַ֥ךְ יְהוָ֖ה וְלֹ֣א נִחָ֑ם וְשָׁמַ֤ע זְעָקָה֙ בַּבֹּ֔קֶר וּתְרוּעָ֖ה בְּעֵ֥ת צָהֳרָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And let that manאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• be as the citiesעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• which the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• overthrewהָפַךְhâphak · to overturnH2015
• and repentedנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: comfortH5162
• not: and let him hearשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
• the cryזְעָקָהza‛aq ze‛âqâh · outcryH2201
• in the morningבֹּ֫קֶרbôqer · morningH1242
• and the shoutingתְּרוּעָהterû‛âh · shoutH8643
• at noontideצֹ֫הַרtsôhar · middayH6672
• at noontideעֵת‛êth · timeH6256

Cross-references for Jeremiah 20:16

• Genesis 19:24Then the Lord poured sulphur that was on fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah. It fell from the sky like rain.
• Deuteronomy 29:23The whole land will become spoiled with salt and sulphur. No one will plant seed in it, because nothing will grow there. Even grass will not grow on it. The land will be useless, like the cities that the Lord destroyed when he was very angry with them. Those cities were Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim.
• Hosea 11:8Israel, I cannot leave you alone. I cannot let you belong to someone else. I cannot destroy you, as I did to Admah and Zeboiim. I now realize that I love you too much. I could never destroy you completely.
• Amos 4:11‘I killed many people among you, as I destroyed the cities called Sodom and Gomorrah. Some of you did not die. You were like a stick that is already burning. And someone saves it from the fire. But still you did not start to pray to me again.’ The Lord says this!
• Zephaniah 2:9The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says, ‘You can be sure that I live. In the same way, you can also be sure that my people will take everything for themselves. God will destroy Moab as he destroyed Sodom. He will destroy Ammon as he destroyed Gomorrah. After this, the ground will have lots of salt on it. Weeds will grow there. Nobody will build anything there again. My people who are still alive will take for themselves the Ammonites' things and the Moabites' things.’
• Luke 17:29But one day Lot went away from Sodom. On that same day, God caused it to rain fire and burning stones from the sky. This killed all the people in Sodom.
• 2 Peter 2:6Later, God punished the people who lived in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Because they did bad things, God decided to destroy them. He burned those cities completely, so that only ashes remained. When God did that, he showed what will happen to all people who refuse to obey him.
• Jude 1:7Also, remember what happened to the cities called Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other cities that were near them. Like those bad angels, the people who lived in those places were also doing evil things. They were having sex with people who were not their husbands or their wives. They liked to have sex in other ways that are not right. God destroyed their cities. He has punished them with fire that never stops burning. That is an example of what will happen to wicked people like them.
• Jeremiah 18:8But when I warn them, those people might stop doing wicked things. Then I would not punish them as I had promised to do.
• Jeremiah 26:13Now you must change the way that you have been living. You must do what is good and right. Obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will not punish you as he said that he would do.
• Jonah 3:4When Jonah arrived in Nineveh, he walked for one day into the city. Then he shouted out to the people, ‘After 40 more days, God will destroy Nineveh.’
• Jonah 4:2He prayed to the Lord. He said, ‘Lord, this is what I thought would happen when I was still at home. So I decided to run away to Tarshish, so that you could not be kind to the people of Nineveh. I know that you are a God who is very kind and you forgive people. You do not become angry quickly. You always show your faithful love for people. Even when you have said that you will punish people, you decide that you will not do it.
• Jeremiah 4:19I am so upset! My body is shaking with pain. My heart beats hard inside me. I cannot keep still. I cannot keep quiet. I have heard the noise of the enemy's trumpets and the shouts of their soldiers.
• Jeremiah 18:22Send people to attack them suddenly and rob them in their homes. Then they will shout aloud in great fear. They have dug a hole for me to fall into. They have prepared traps to catch me.
• Jeremiah 48:3The people of Horonaim will shout for help, because a strong army is destroying them.
• Ezekiel 21:22The arrow in his right hand shows him that he should go to Jerusalem. He will command his army to go and kill the people there. His soldiers will use heavy pieces of wood to knock down the walls and gates of the city. They will shout as they attack the city. They will build heaps of earth against the city's walls.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 20:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16And let him hear the cry - Let him be in continual alarms.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7-18Verses 7-18 In the rest of the chapter we have an outbreak of deep emotion, of which the first part ends in a cry of hope Jeremiah 20:13, followed nevertheless by curses upon the day of his birth. Was this the result of feelings wounded by the indignities of a public scourging and a night spent in the stocks? Or was it not the mental agony of knowing that his ministry had (as it seemed) failed? He stands indeed before the multitudes with unbending…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-18Verses 14-18 When grace has the victory, it is good to be ashamed of our folly, to admire the goodness of God, and be warned to guard our spirits another time. See how strong the temptation was, over which the prophet got the victory by Divine assistance! He is angry that his first breath was not his last. While we remember that these wishes are not recorded for us to utter the like, we may learn good lessons from them. See how much those who think they…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16The ancient cities were likely Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24–29).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-1814-18. The contrast between the spirit of this passage and the preceding thanksgiving is to be explained thus: to show how great was the deliverance (Jr 20:13), he subjoins a picture of what his wounded spirit had been previous to his deliverance; I had said in the time of my imprisonment, "Cursed be the day"; my feeling was that of Job (Job 3:3, 10, 11, whose words Jeremiah therefore copies). Though Jeremiah's zeal had been stirred up, not so much for…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 20:16

• Jeremiah
• Life
• Murmuring

In the dictionaries

• Derision
• Familiar
• Jeremiah (2)
• Job, Book of
• Uriah; Uruah

Commentaries on Jeremiah 20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings