Jeremiah 20:16

16 May the bearer of that news be like the cities that the LORD destroyed without mercy. May he hear screams in the morning, and the battle cries at noon,

Jeremiah 20:16 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 20:16

And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew,
&c.] In his fury, as the Targum and Septuagint add. Meaning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were utterly destroyed, and were never recovered: and repented not;
whose sentence God never repented of, nor revoked: this was very severe and uncharitable, to wish for so sore a destruction upon an innocent person; and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;
as soon as he is up in the morning, the first thing that salutes his ears, let it be the noise of an enemy invading the city he dwells in; and by noon let him hear the shouting of him, having broke in, and gotten the victory, seizing the plunder.

Jeremiah 20:16 In-Context

14 Cursed be the day that I was born. May the day my mother gave birth to me not be blessed.

15 Cursed be the one who delivered the news to my father, "You have a son!"— filling him with joy.

16 May the bearer of that news be like the cities that the LORD destroyed without mercy. May he hear screams in the morning, and the battle cries at noon,

17 because he didn't kill me in the womb and let my mother become my grave, her womb pregnant forever.

18 Why was I ever born when all I see is suffering and misery, and my days are filled with shame?