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

14Yet I curse the day I was born! May no one celebrate the day of my birth. 15I curse the messenger who told my father, “Good news—you have a son!” Let him be destroyed like the cities of old that the Lord overthrew without mercy. Terrify him all day long with battle shouts, 17because he did not kill me at birth. Oh, that I had died in my mother’s womb, that her body had been my grave! 18Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and 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 rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah.
• Deuteronomy 29:23They will exclaim, ‘The whole land is devastated by sulfur and salt. It is a wasteland with nothing planted and nothing growing, not even a blade of grass. It is like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.’
• Hosea 11:8“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you like Admah or demolish you like Zeboiim? My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows.
• Amos 4:11“I destroyed some of your cities, as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Those of you who survived were like charred sticks pulled from a fire. But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.
• Zephaniah 2:9Now, as surely as I live,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, “Moab and Ammon will be destroyed— destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah. Their land will become a place of stinging nettles, salt pits, and eternal desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them and take their land.”
• Luke 17:29until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
• 2 Peter 2:6Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.
• Jude 1:7And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment.
• Jeremiah 18:8but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned.
• Jeremiah 26:13But if you stop your sinning and begin to obey the Lord your God, he will change his mind about this disaster that he has announced against you.
• Jonah 3:4On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”
• Jonah 4:2So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.
• Jeremiah 4:19My heart, my heart—I writhe in pain! My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still. For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets and the roar of their battle cries.
• Jeremiah 18:22Let screaming be heard from their homes as warriors come suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit for me and have hidden traps along my path.
• Jeremiah 48:3Listen to the cries from Horonaim, cries of devastation and great destruction.
• Ezekiel 21:22The omen in his right hand says, ‘Jerusalem!’ With battering rams his soldiers will go against the gates, shouting for the kill. They will put up siege towers and build ramps against the 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