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

18“You brought this on yourself. This is your punishment. It is bitter. It breaks your heart.” 19My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. My heart is beating wildly! My heart is pounding! I can’t keep quiet because I hear a ram’s horn sounding the alarm for war. One disaster follows another. The whole land is ruined. My tents are suddenly destroyed. Their curtains are torn in an instant. 21How long must I see the battle flag and hear the sound of rams’ horns? 22“My people are fools. They don’t know me. They are stupid people. They don’t understand. They are experts in doing wrong, and they don’t know how to do 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 4:6Raise the flag to signal people to go to Zion. Take cover! Don’t just stand there! I’m bringing disaster and widespread destruction from the north.
• Jeremiah 17:18Put my persecutors to shame, but do not let me be put to shame. Terrify them, but do not let me be terrified. Bring the day of disaster on them, and destroy them completely.
• Leviticus 26:18“If you still will not listen to me, I will discipline you seven times for your sins.
• Psalms 42:7One deep sea calls to another at the roar of your waterspouts. All the whitecaps on your waves have swept over me.
• Isaiah 13:6Cry loudly, for the day of the Lord is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty.
• Lamentations 3:47Panic and pitfalls have found us, so have devastation and destruction.
• Ezekiel 7:25Anguish is coming. People will look for peace, but there will be none.
• Ezekiel 14:21“This is what the Almighty Lord says: I will surely send four terrible punishments against Jerusalem. I will send wars, famines, wild animals, and plagues. They will destroy people and animals.
• Joel 1:15This will be a terrible day! The day of the Lord is near, and it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
• Matthew 10:28Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
• 2 Thessalonians 1:9They will pay the penalty by being destroyed forever, by being separated from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious power.
• Jeremiah 10:19Oh, I’m wounded! My wound is serious. Then I thought that this is my punishment, and I will bear it.
• Isaiah 33:20Look at Zion, the city of our festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem as a peaceful place. It is a tent that can’t be moved. Its tent pegs will never be pulled out, and none of its ropes will be broken.
• Isaiah 54:2Expand the space of your tent. Stretch out the curtains of your tent, and don’t hold back. Lengthen your tent ropes, and drive in the tent pegs.
• Lamentations 2:6He stripped his own booth as if it were a garden and destroyed his own festivals. The Lord wiped out the memory of festivals and days of rest—holy days—in Zion. He expelled kings and priests because of his fierce anger.
• Habakkuk 3:7I see trouble in the tents of Cushan. I see trembling in the tents of Midian.

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