Jeremiah 20:16

16 Let that man be like the towns the Lord destroyed without pity. Let him hear loud crying in the morning and 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 Let there be a curse on the day I was born; let there be no blessing on the day when my mother gave birth to me.

15 Let there be a curse on the man who brought my father the news: "You have a son!" This made my father very glad.

16 Let that man be like the towns the Lord destroyed without pity. Let him hear loud crying in the morning and battle cries at noon,

17 because he did not kill me before I was born. Then my mother would have been my grave; she would have stayed pregnant forever.

18 Why did I have to come out of my mother's body? All I have known is trouble and sorrow, and my life will end in shame.