Jeremiah 4:18

18 Thy ways and thy thoughts have made this to thee; this malice of thee, for it is bitter, for it touched thine heart. (Thy ways and thy thoughts have brought these things to thee; this is thy malice, for it is bitter, and it hath touched thy heart.)

Jeremiah 4:18 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 4:18

Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee,
&c.] The way in which they walked, which was an evil one; and the actions which they committed; their idolatries, backslidings, and rebellions, before spoken of in this and the preceding chapter, were the cause of this siege, and those calamities coming upon them; they had none to blame but themselves; it was their own sinful ways and works which brought this ruin and destruction on them: this is thy wickedness;
the fruit of thy wickedness; or, "this thy calamity"; that is, is owing to these things; so the word is rendered in ( Psalms 141:5 ) : because it is bitter;
not sin, as in ( Jeremiah 2:19 ) , but the punishment of it; the calamity before mentioned; which was hard and heavy, and grievous to be borne, and yet very just; it was by way of retaliation; "they had bitterly provoked the Lord", as the word may be rendered in the preceding verse; and now he sends them a bitter calamity, and a heavy judgment: because it reacheth unto thine heart;
into the midst of them, and utterly destroyed them. The two last clauses may be rendered, "though it is bitter, though it reacheth unto thine heart" ^F4; though it is such a sore distress, and such an utter destruction, yet it was to be ascribed to nothing else but their own sins and transgressions.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (egn yk rm yk) "quamvis amarum sit, quamvis pertigerit", Calvin.

Jeremiah 4:18 In-Context

16 Raise, ye folks; lo! it is heard in Jerusalem, that keepers be come from a far land, and give their voice on the cities of Judah. (Raise up, ye nations; lo! it is heard in Jerusalem, that enemies have come from a far land, and shout out their voices against the cities of Judah.)

17 As the keepers of fields, they be made on it in compass; for it stirred me to wrathfulness, saith the Lord. (Like the guardians of a field, they stand all around it, and come against it; for it stirred me to anger, saith the Lord.)

18 Thy ways and thy thoughts have made this to thee; this malice of thee, for it is bitter, for it touched thine heart. (Thy ways and thy thoughts have brought these things to thee; this is thy malice, for it is bitter, and it hath touched thy heart.)

19 My womb acheth, my womb acheth; the wits of mine heart be troubled in me. I shall not be still, for my soul heard the voice of a trump, the cry of battle.

20 Sorrow is called on sorrow, and all the land is destroyed; my tabernacles be wasted suddenly, my skins be wasted suddenly (my tents suddenly be destroyed, my curtains suddenly be all torn in pieces).