Jeremiah 20:16

16 Let that man be like the cities ADONAI overthrew without mercy! Let him hear cries of alarm in the morning and the sound of battle 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 A curse on the day I was born! The day my mother gave birth to me - let it not be blessed!

15 A curse on the man who brought the news to my father, "A son has been born to you!" - thus making him very happy.

16 Let that man be like the cities ADONAI overthrew without mercy! Let him hear cries of alarm in the morning and the sound of battle at noon,

17 because God did not put me to death in the womb and let my mother become my grave, her womb forever filled with me.

18 Why did I have to emerge from the womb, just to see toil and sorrow, and end my days in shame?