Jeremiah 20:16
New International Version
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
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
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,

Berean Standard Bible
May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without compassion. May he hear an outcry in the morning and a battle cry at noon,

King James Bible
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;

New King James Version
And let that man be like the cities Which the LORD overthrew, and did not relent; Let him hear the cry in the morning And the shouting at noon,

New American Standard Bible
But may that man be like the cities Which the LORD overthrew without relenting, And may he hear an outcry in the morning And an alarm for war at noon;

NASB 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;

NASB 1977
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;

Legacy Standard Bible
But let that man be like the cities Which Yahweh overthrew without relenting, And let him hear an outcry in the morning And a shout of war at noon,

Amplified Bible
And let that man be like the cities Which the LORD overthrew without regret. Let him hear an outcry in the morning And a shout of alarm at noon;

Christian Standard Bible
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

Holman Christian Standard Bible
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

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;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Let that man be as the cities that LORD JEHOVAH overturned, and he was not reconciled to them! Let him hear wailing at dawn and bawling at noonday!

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Let that man rejoice as the cities which the Lord overthrew in wrath, and repented not: let him hear crying in the morning, and loud lamentation at noon;

Contemporary English Version
May that man be like the towns you destroyed without pity. Let him hear shouts of alarm in the morning and battle cries at noon.

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:

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;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
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.

Good News Translation
May he be like those cities that the LORD destroyed without mercy. May he hear cries of pain in the morning and the battle alarm at noon,

International Standard Version
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,

JPS Tanakh 1917
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 an alarm at noontide;

Literal Standard Version
Then that man has been as the cities, | That YHWH overthrew, and did not relent, | And he has heard a cry in the morning, | And a shout at noontime.

Majority Standard Bible
May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without compassion. May he hear an outcry in the morning and a battle cry at noon,

New American Bible
Let that man be like the cities which the LORD relentlessly overthrew; Let him hear war cries in the morning, battle alarms at noonday,

NET Bible
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.

New Revised Standard Version
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 Heart English Bible
Let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and did not repent: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime;

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. 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.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jeremiah's Complaint
15Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy. 16May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without compassion. May he hear an outcry in the morning and a battle cry at noon, 17because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb forever enlarged.…

Cross References
Genesis 19:25
Thus He destroyed these cities and the entire plain, including all the inhabitants of the cities and everything that grew on the ground.

Jeremiah 18:22
Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders 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 a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah."

Jeremiah 48:3
A voice cries out from Horonaim: 'Devastation and great destruction!'

Jeremiah 48:4
Moab will be shattered; her little ones will cry out.

Lamentations 4:6
The punishment of the daughter of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in an instant without a hand turned to help her.

Hosea 13:14
I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.


Treasury of Scripture

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;

as.

Genesis 19:24,25
Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; …

Deuteronomy 29:23
And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

Hosea 11:8
How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

repented.

Jeremiah 18:8
If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

Jeremiah 26:13
Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.

Jonah 3:4,9,10
And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown…

let him.

Jeremiah 4:19
My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

Jeremiah 18:22
Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.

Jeremiah 48:3,4
A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction…

Jump to Previous
Alarm Cities Cry Ears Hear Heard Help Mercy Middle Morning Noon Noonday Noontide Noontime Outcry Overthrew Overturned Pity Relenting Repent Repented Shout Shouting Sound Towns Wailing War
Jump to Next
Alarm Cities Cry Ears Hear Heard Help Mercy Middle Morning Noon Noonday Noontide Noontime Outcry Overthrew Overturned Pity Relenting Repent Repented Shout Shouting Sound Towns Wailing War
Jeremiah 20
1. Pashur, smiting Jeremiah, receives a new name, and a fearful doom.
7. Jeremiah complains of contempt;
10. of treachery;
14. and of his birth.














(16) The cities which the Lord overthrew.--The verb is the same as that used in Genesis 19:29, and the reference is clearly to the "cities of the plain," whose destruction is there described. The reference to them in Deuteronomy 32:32; Isaiah 1:9-10, shows that they had already become familiar to men as the great representative instances both of evil and its punishment.

The cry . . . the shouting.--The former word describes the wail of lamentation, the latter the shout of an invading army.

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).



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
May
הַה֔וּא (ha·hū)
Article | Pronoun - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

that man
הָאִ֣ישׁ (hā·’îš)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

be
וְהָיָה֙ (wə·hā·yāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

like the cities
כֶּֽעָרִ֛ים (ke·‘ā·rîm)
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 5892: Excitement

the LORD
אֲשֶׁר־ (’ă·šer-)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

overthrew
הָפַ֥ךְ (hā·p̄aḵ)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2015: To turn about, over, to change, overturn, return, pervert

without
וְלֹ֣א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

compassion.
נִחָ֑ם (ni·ḥām)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5162: To sigh, breathe strongly, to be sorry, to pity, console, rue, to avenge

May he hear
וְשָׁמַ֤ע (wə·šā·ma‘)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

an outcry
זְעָקָה֙ (zə·‘ā·qāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2201: A shriek, outcry

in the morning
בַּבֹּ֔קֶר (bab·bō·qer)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1242: Dawn, morning

and a battle cry
וּתְרוּעָ֖ה (ū·ṯə·rū·‘āh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8643: Clamor, acclamation of joy, a battle-cry, clangor, of trumpets, as an alarum

at noon,
צָהֳרָֽיִם׃ (ṣā·ho·rā·yim)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6672: A light, double light, noon


Links
Jeremiah 20:16 NIV
Jeremiah 20:16 NLT
Jeremiah 20:16 ESV
Jeremiah 20:16 NASB
Jeremiah 20:16 KJV

Jeremiah 20:16 BibleApps.com
Jeremiah 20:16 Biblia Paralela
Jeremiah 20:16 Chinese Bible
Jeremiah 20:16 French Bible
Jeremiah 20:16 Catholic Bible

OT Prophets: Jeremiah 20:16 Let that man be as the cities (Jer.)
Jeremiah 20:15
Top of Page
Top of Page