Jeremiah 4 · Verse 20

Jeremiah 4:20

Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
Jeremiah 4:20, King James Version

Jeremiah 4:20 in other translations

BSBDisaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment.
WEBDestruction on destruction is decreed, for the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, and my curtains gone in a moment.
ASVDestruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents destroyed, and my curtains in a moment.
YLTDestruction on destruction is proclaimed, For spoiled hath been all the land, Suddenly spoiled have been my tents, In a moment--my curtains.
DARBYDestruction upon destruction is proclaimed; for the whole land is wasted: suddenly are my tents laid waste, my curtains, in a moment.
BBENews is given of destruction on destruction; all the land is made waste: suddenly my tents, straight away my curtains, are made waste.
WebsterDestruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste; suddenly are my tents ruined, and my curtains in a moment.

What does Jeremiah 4:20 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
20. Destruction ... cried--Breach upon breach is announced (Psa 42:7; Eze 7:26). The war "trumpet" ... the battle shout ... the "destructions" ... the havoc throughout "the whole land" ... the spoiling of the shepherds' "tents" (Jr 10:20; or, "tents" means cities, which should be overthrown as easily as tents [Calvin]), form a gradation.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 20 Destruction upon destruction - Cities burnt, and their inhabitants destroyed. My tents spoiled - Even the solitary dwellings in the fields and open country do not escape.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Jeremiah 4:19-31

The prophet had no pleasure in delivering messages of wrath. He is shown in a vision the whole land in confusion. Compared with what it was, every thing is out of order; but the ruin of the Jewish nation would not be final. Every end of our comforts is not a full end. Though the Lord may correct his people very severely, yet he will not cast them off. Ornaments and false colouring would be of no avail. No outward…

Read the full comment on Jeremiah 4:19-31 →

Jeremiah 4:20 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

שֶׁ֤בֶרShe.verdestructionH7667
עַל\־'al-toH5921
שֶׁ֙בֶר֙she.verdestructionH7667
נִקְרָ֔אnik.Ra'it has been proclaimedH7121
כִּ֥יkiforH3588
שֻׁדְּדָ֖הshu.de.Dahit has been devastatedH7703
כָּל\־kol-allH3605
הָאָ֑רֶץha.'A.retzthe landH776
פִּתְאֹם֙pit.'OmsuddenlyH6597
שֻׁדְּד֣וּshu.de.Duthey have been devastatedH7703
אֹהָלַ֔י'o.ha.Laitents myH168
רֶ֖גַעRe.ga'a momentH7281
יְרִיעֹתָֽי\׃ye.ri.'o.Taitent curtains myH3407

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Jeremiah 4:20

  • Psalms 42:7

    Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

  • Joel 1:15

    Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

  • 2 Thessalonians 1:9

    Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

  • Ezekiel 7:25-26

    Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.

  • Matthew 10:28

    And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

  • Isaiah 33:20

    Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

  • Isaiah 13:6

    Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

  • Leviticus 26:18

    And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

  • Leviticus 26:21

    And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

  • Jeremiah 10:19-20

    Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

  • Exodus 33:5

    For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.

  • Ezekiel 14:21

    For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
upon destruction.
6; 17:18; Le 26:18,21,24,28; Ps 42:7; Isa 13:6; La 3:47
Eze 7:25,26; 14:21; Joe 1:15; Mt 10:28; 2Th 1:9
suddenly.
10:19,20; Isa 33:20; 54:2; La 2:6-9; Hab 3:7
in.
Ex 33:5; Nu 16:21,45; Ps 72:19; Isa 47:9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 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 4:20

    Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

  • Jeremiah 4:21

    How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

Read all of Jeremiah 4

Jeremiah 4:20 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Quebrantamiento sobre quebrantamiento es llamado; porque toda la tierra es destruída: en un punto son destruídas mis tiendas, en un momento mis cortinas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Ruine sur ruine se fait entendre, car tout le pays est dévasté: soudain mes tentes sont dévastées, en un moment, mes courtines.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Zerstörung über Zerstörung wird ausgerufen. Denn das ganze Land ist verwüstet; plötzlich sind meine Zelte zerstört, meine Zeltbehänge in einem Augenblick.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Contritio super contritionem vocata est, et vastata est omnis terra: repente vastata sunt tabernacula mea; subito pelles meæ.