Jeremiah 20:16

16 Let that man be like the cities which the LORD overthrew without pity; let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm 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 on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed!

15 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, "A son is born to you," making him very glad.

16 Let that man be like the cities which the LORD overthrew without pity; let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm at noon,

17 because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb for ever great.

18 Why did I come forth from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?