Jeremiah 20:16
◄  Jeremiah 20:16  ►
New International Version (©2011)
May that man be like the towns the LORD overthrew without pity. May he hear wailing in the morning, a battle cry at noon.

New Living Translation (©2007)
Let him be destroyed like the cities of old that the LORD overthrew without mercy. Terrify him all day long with battle shouts,

English Standard Version (©2001)
Let that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without pity; let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm at noon,

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
But let that man be like the cities Which the LORD overthrew without relenting, And let him hear an outcry in the morning And a shout of alarm at noon;

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
Let that man be like the cities the LORD demolished without compassion. Let him hear an outcry in the morning and a war cry at noontime

International Standard Version (©2012)
May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without compassion. Let him hear a cry in the morning, and a battle cry at noon,

NET Bible (©2006)
May that man be like the cities that the LORD destroyed without showing any mercy. May he hear a cry of distress in the morning and a battle cry at noon.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
May that man be like the cities that the LORD destroyed without pity. May he hear a cry of alarm in the morning and a battle cry at noon.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;

American King James Version
And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;

American Standard Version
And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime;

Douay-Rheims Bible
Let that man be as the cities that the Lord hath overthrown, and hath not repented: let him hear a cry in the morning, and howling at noontide:

Darby Bible Translation
And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not; and let him hear a cry in the morning, and a shouting at noonday,

English Revised Version
And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontide;

Webster's Bible Translation
And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noon;

World English Bible
Let that man be as the cities which Yahweh overthrew, and didn't repent: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime;

Young's Literal Translation
Then hath that man been as the cities, That Jehovah overthrew, and repented not, And he hath heard a cry at morning, And a shout at time of noon.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

20:14-18 When grace has the victory, it is good to be ashamed of our folly, to admire the goodness of God, and be warned to guard our spirits another time. See how strong the temptation was, over which the prophet got the victory by Divine assistance! He is angry that his first breath was not his last. While we remember that these wishes are not recorded for us to utter the like, we may learn good lessons from them. See how much those who think they stand, ought to take heed lest they fall, and to pray daily, Lead us not into temptation. How frail, changeable, and sinful is man! How foolish and unnatural are the thoughts and wishes of our hearts, when we yield to discontent! Let us consider Him who endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, lest we should be at any time weary and faint in our minds under our lesser trials.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 16. - As the cities which the Lord overthrow. It is, so to speak, the "technical term" for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah which Jeremiah employs. So deeply imprinted was the tradition on the Hebrew mind, that a special word was appropriated to it, which at once called up thoughts of the awful justice of God (see Genesis 19:25; Isaiah 1:7 (?); 13:19; Amos 4:11; Deuteronomy 29:23 [22]; Jeremiah 49:18; Jeremiah 50:40). The cry... the shouting. The cry of the besieged for help; the shouting of the suddenly appearing assailants (comp. Jeremiah 15:8).

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew,.... 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.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16. the cities—Sodom and Gomorrah.

cry … morning … noontide—that is, Let him be kept in alarm the whole day (not merely at night when terrors ordinarily prevail, but in daytime when it is something extraordinary) with terrifying war shouts, as those in a besieged city (Jer 18:22).

Jeremiah 20:16 Parallel Commentaries

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Jeremiah's Complaint
…15Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born to you; making him very glad. 16And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide; 17Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.

Genesis 19:25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities--and also the vegetation in the land.
Jeremiah 18:22 Let a cry be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring invaders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.
Jeremiah 23:14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that not one of them turns from their wickedness. They are all like Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah."
Jeremiah 48:3 Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim, cries of great havoc and destruction.
Jeremiah 48:4 Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out.
Lamentations 4:6 The punishment of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment without a hand turned to help her.
Hosea 13:14 "I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction? "I will have no compassion,