Jeremiah 20:16

16 That man be as the cities be, which the Lord destroyed, and it repented not him; [Be that man as be the cities, that the Lord turned upside-down, and it repented him not; hear he (the) cry early, and yelling in midday time,] (May that man be like the cities, which the Lord destroyed, and he did not repent for doing that; let him hear the cries of alarm in the morning, and the yelling at midday,)

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 wherein I was born, the day wherein my mother childed me be not blessed. (Cursed be the day when I was born, may the day when my mother gave birth to me be not blessed.)

15 Cursed be the man, that told to my father, and said, A knave child is born to thee, and made him glad as with joy. (Cursed be the man, who told my father, and said, A boy child is born to thee, and made him happy with joy.)

16 That man be as the cities be, which the Lord destroyed, and it repented not him; [Be that man as be the cities, that the Lord turned upside-down, and it repented him not; hear he (the) cry early, and yelling in midday time,] (May that man be like the cities, which the Lord destroyed, and he did not repent for doing that; let him hear the cries of alarm in the morning, and the yelling at midday,)

17 he that killed not me from the womb, hear cry early, and yelling in the time of midday; that my mother were [made] a sepulchre to me, and her womb were an everlasting conceiving. [that me (he) slew not from the privy womb; that made were to me my mother a sepulchre, and her privy womb conceiving everlasting. (that he did not kill me in the womb; so that my mother was made a tomb for me, and within her womb I was an everlasting conception.)] (because the Lord did not kill me in the womb, so that my mother was made my tomb, and I was an everlasting, or never born, conception, within her womb.)

18 Why went I out of the womb, that I should see travail and sorrow, and that my days shall be wasted in shame? (O why was I born, so that I could see struggle, or trouble, and sorrow, and that my days would be wasted in shame?)