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

18Your conduct and your deeds have brought these things on you. This is your calamity! How bitter it is! How it smites your heart! 19My stomach, my stomach! I writhe in anguish! The pain of my heart! My heart is pounding within me! I cannot keep silent because I have heard, O my soul, the sound of the shofar, the battle-cry of war. Disaster on disaster is reported. So the whole land is ruined. My tents are suddenly ravaged, my curtains in an instant. 21How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the shofar? 22“For My people are foolish. They do not know Me. They are senseless children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they do not know.”

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 4:6“Raise a banner toward Zion! Take refuge! Do not delay! For I bring calamity from the north, even terrible destruction.
• Jeremiah 17:18Let my persecutors be ashamed, yet let me not be ashamed. Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. Bring on them the evil day, Destroy them with double destruction.
• Leviticus 26:18“If you, in spite of these things, will not listen to Me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins.
• Psalms 42:7My God, my soul is downcast within me! Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and from the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mitzar.
• Isaiah 13:6Wail, for the day of Adonai is near! it will come as destruction from Shaddai.
• Lamentations 3:47Panic and pitfall have befallen us, devastation and destruction.
• Ezekiel 7:25Shuddering comes. They will seek peace but there will be none.
• Ezekiel 14:21For thus Adonai says: “How much more if I send My four dreadful judgments against Jerusalem—the sword, the famine, the evil beasts and the plague—to cut man and beast off from it.
• Joel 1:15Ah, the day! The day of Adonai is near! As havoc from Shaddai it will come.
• Matthew 10:28And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
• 2 Thessalonians 1:9They will pay the price of eternal ruin, away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power—
• Jeremiah 10:19Oy to me because of my brokenness! My wound is incurable. Yet I said, “This is simply a sickness and I must bear it.”
• Isaiah 33:20Look upon Zion, city of our Festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem as a quiet home, a tent that will never be folded, Its stakes never pulled up, its cords never broken.
• Isaiah 54:2“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch out your tabernacle curtains. Do not hold back— lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
• Lamentations 2:6Like the garden He laid waste His dwelling, destroyed His appointed meeting place. Adonai has caused moed and Shabbat to be forgotten in Zion. In the indignation of His anger He spurned king and kohen.
• Habakkuk 3:7I saw tents of Cushan under calamity. The curtains of the land of Midian are trembling.

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