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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Waves of destruction roll over the land, until it lies in complete desolation. Suddenly my tents are destroyed; in a moment my shelters are crushed.

Context of Jeremiah 4:20

18“Your own conduct and actions have brought this on you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!” 19Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry. Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment. 21How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? 22“My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not 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 signal to go to Zion! Flee for safety without delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, even terrible destruction.”
• Jeremiah 17:18Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction.
• Leviticus 26:18“ ‘If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over.
• Psalms 42:7Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
• Isaiah 13:6Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
• Lamentations 3:47We have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction.”
• Ezekiel 7:25When terror comes, they will seek peace in vain.
• Ezekiel 14:21“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals!
• Joel 1:15Alas for that day! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
• Matthew 10:28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
• 2 Thessalonians 1:9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might
• Jeremiah 10:19Woe to me because of my injury! My wound is incurable! Yet I said to myself, “This is my sickness, and I must endure it.”
• Isaiah 33:20Look on Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.
• Isaiah 54:2“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
• Lamentations 2:6He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden; he has destroyed his place of meeting. The Lord has made Zion forget her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths; in his fierce anger he has spurned both king and priest.
• Habakkuk 3:7I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish.

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