19 My soul , my soul ! I am in anguish ! Oh , my heart ! My heart is pounding in me; I cannot be silent , Because you have heard , O my soul , The sound of the trumpet , The alarm of war . 20 Disaster on disaster is proclaimed , For the whole land is devastated ; Suddenly my tents are devastated , My curtains in an instant . 21 How long e must I see the standard And hear the sound of the trumpet ? 22 " For My people are foolish , They know Me not; They are stupid children And have no understanding . They are shrewd to do evil , But to do good they do not know ." 23 I looked on the earth , and behold , it was formless and void ; And to the heavens , and they had no light . 24 I looked on the mountains , and behold , they were quaking , And all the hills moved to and fro . 25 I looked , and behold , there was no man , And all the birds of the heavens had fled . 26 I looked , and behold , the fruitful land was a wilderness , And all its cities were pulled down Before e the Lord , before e His fierce anger . 27 For thus says the Lord , "The whole land shall be a desolation , Yet I will not execute a complete destruction . 28 "For this the earth shall mourn And the heavens above e be dark , Because e I have spoken , I have purposed , And I will not change My mind , nor will I turn from it." 29 At the sound of the horseman and bowman e every city flees ; They go into the thickets and climb among the rocks ; Every city is forsaken , And no man dwells in them. 30 And you, O desolate one, what will you do ? Although you dress in scarlet , Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold , Although you enlarge your eyes with paint , In vain you make yourself beautiful . Your lovers despise you; They seek your life . 31 For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor , The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child , The cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath , Stretching out her hands , saying, "Ah , woe is me, for I faint before murderers ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 4:19-31
Commentary on Jeremiah 4:19-31
(Read 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 privileges or profession, no contrivances would prevent destruction. How wretched the state of those who are like foolish children in the concerns of their souls! Whatever we are ignorant of, may the Lord make of good understanding in the ways of godliness. As sin will find out the sinner, so sorrow will, sooner or later, find out the secure.