Jeremiah 7:20

20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold my wrath and my indignation is enkindled against this place, upon men and upon beasts, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruits of the land, and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

Jeremiah 7:20 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 7:20

Therefore thus saith the Lord God
Since these are their thoughts, and this the fruit of their doings: behold, my anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place;
like fire, to consume and destroy it; meaning Jerusalem, which was burned with fire; as an emblem of God's wrath, and an instance of his vengeance upon it, for sins; which came down in great abundance, like a storm or tempest: upon man and upon beast;
upon beasts for the sake of man, they being his property, and for his use; otherwise they are innocent, and do not deserve the wrath of God, nor are they sensible of it: and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of your ground;
which should be blighted by nipping winds, or cut down and trampled upon by the Chaldean army: and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched;
that is, the wrath of God shall burn like fire, and shall not cease until it has executed the whole will of God in the punishment of his people.

Jeremiah 7:20 In-Context

18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to offer libations to strange gods, and to provoke me to anger.
19 Do they provoke me to anger, saith the Lord? is it not themselves, to the confusion of their own countenance?
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold my wrath and my indignation is enkindled against this place, upon men and upon beasts, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruits of the land, and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat ye the flesh.
22 For I spoke not to your fathers, and I commanded them not, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offerings and sacrifices.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.