Jeremiah 4:20

Jeremiah 4:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
• New International Version (NIV)Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Crash follows hard on crash; the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Destruction upon destruction is cried, For the whole land is plundered. Suddenly my tents are plundered, And my curtains in a moment.

Context of Jeremiah 4:20

18I will punish you very much, because that is what you deserve. You have lived in a wicked way and you have done evil things. My punishment will give you pain that goes all through you.’ 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. They are winning one battle after another! They are destroying the whole land. Our homes are becoming heaps of stones. They quickly knock down our tents. 21How long will our enemy continue to attack us? How long will I see their flags and hear their trumpets? 22The Lord says, ‘My people are fools. They do not know me. They are like children who do not know anything. They understand nothing. They are very clever at doing evil things. But they do not know how to do what is good.’

Jeremiah 4:20 word by word

שֶׁ֤בֶר עַל־שֶׁ֙בֶר֙ נִקְרָ֔א כִּ֥י שֻׁדְּדָ֖ה כָּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ פִּתְאֹם֙ שֻׁדְּד֣וּ אֹהָלַ֔י רֶ֖גַע יְרִיעֹתָֽי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Destructionשֶׁ֫בֶרsheber shêber · breakingH7667
• is criedקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call outH7121
• for the whole landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• is spoiledשָׁדַדshâdad · to ruinH7703
• suddenlyפִּתְאֹםpith'ôm pith'ôm · suddenlyH6597
• are my tentsאֹ֫הֶל'ôhel · tentH168
• my curtainsיְרִיעָהyerîy‛âh · curtainH3407
• in a momentרֶ֫גַעrega‛ · momentH7281

Cross-references for Jeremiah 4:20

• Jeremiah 4:6Lift up a flag that shows the way to Zion! Run quickly to a safe place! Do not wait! I will soon bring great trouble from the north. An enemy will destroy your country.
• Jeremiah 17:18Please bring shame on those who want to hurt me. Do not make me ashamed. Make those people afraid, but do not make me afraid. Destroy them with a time of great trouble. Punish them completely!
• Leviticus 26:18The people may not obey God even after this. If they do not, God will punish them seven times more strongly.
• Psalms 42:7I hear your waterfalls make a noise like thunder. It seems like all that water is pouring over me and it knocks me down to the ground.
• Isaiah 13:6Weep, because the day of the Lord is near. That is the time when God Almighty will destroy his enemies.
• Lamentations 3:47We have become afraid of them. They have caught us and they have destroyed us and our things.’
• Ezekiel 7:25Terrible trouble is coming to my people! When they are afraid, they will look for peace. But they will not find it.
• Ezekiel 14:21This is what the Almighty Lord says: It will be terrible for Jerusalem's people when I punish them in all these four ways. I will send enemy soldiers with swords. I will send famine. I will send wild animals. And I will send disease. That will cause both people and animals to die.
• Joel 1:15Be afraid because of that day. Be afraid because the day of the Lord is near. It will be as if the great God would destroy everything.
• Matthew 10:28Do not be afraid of those people who can kill only your body. These people cannot kill your soul. No, it is God that you should be afraid of. He can kill your body, and then he can also destroy your soul in hell.
• 2 Thessalonians 1:9Their punishment will continue for ever, as God destroys them. He will keep them away from the Lord. They will never see the Lord, or his great power.
• Jeremiah 10:19‘A terrible thing has happened to us! We have received a very bad wound. We thought, “We are very ill, but one day we will get better.”
• Isaiah 33:20Now, look at Zion, the city where we have our festivals. Yes, you will see Jerusalem. It will be a place that is quiet and safe. It will be like a tent that people will never move. They will never pull up its pegs. They will never break its ropes.
• Isaiah 54:2Make your tent bigger! You need more room to live in. Yes, do it! Make the tent's ropes longer! Make the pegs that hold it stronger!
• Lamentations 2:6He has knocked down his own holy house as easily as someone can knock down a hut in a garden. He has destroyed this place where people once met him. The Lord has caused Zion's people to forget the special events and the Sabbath days in his holy house. He was very angry. So he thought that our king and our priests were not important. He refused to help them.
• Habakkuk 3:7I see the tents where Cushan's people live, and the people are afraid. The people in Midian are shaking with fear.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 4:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Destruction upon destruction - Cities burnt, and their inhabitants destroyed. My tents spoiled - Even the solitary dwellings in the fields and open country do not escape.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Destruction … - Or, breaking upon breaking Jeremiah 4:6. The news of one breaking, one violent calamity, follows close upon another. My curtains - The curtains of the tent, put here for the tents themselves. tents were the ordinary habitations of the Israelites.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-31Verses 19-31 The prophet had no pleasure in delivering messages of wrath. He is shown in a vision the whole land in confusion. Compared with what it was, every thing is out of order; but the ruin of the Jewish nation would not be final. Every end of our comforts is not a full end. Though the Lord may correct his people very severely, yet he will not cast them off. Ornaments and false colouring would be of no avail. No outward privileges or profession, no…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-21When Jeremiah heard trumpets and the battle cries of the invaders who brought destruction, he realized that his family and others he knew were being killed or left homeless. Jeremiah could not escape the effects of God's judgment, even though he was faithfully serving the Lord (Jeremiah 9:1, 19; 10:19–20; 20:9; 2 Kings 25:11; 2 Chronicles 36:20; Psalm 42:7; Isaiah 15:5; 16:11; 21:3; 22:4; Ezekiel 7:26).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. Destruction ... cried--Breach upon breach is announced (Psa 42:7; Eze 7:26). The war "trumpet" ... the battle shout ... the "destructions" ... the havoc throughout "the whole land" ... the spoiling of the shepherds' "tents" (Jr 10:20; or, "tents" means cities, which should be overthrown as easily as tents [Calvin]), form a gradation.Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 4:20

• Condescension of God
• Curtains
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• War

In the dictionaries

• Bless
• Fallow
• Pain
• Tent
• Wise
• Backslide
• Curtain
• Genesis
• Jeremiah (2)
• alarm, alarmed

Commentaries on Jeremiah 4

• 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