Jeremiah 4:21

¹⁹ My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.

²⁰ Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment.

How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the horn?

²² “For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”

²³ I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the horn?
KJV: How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
WEB: How long will I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?
ASV: How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
DARBY: How long shall I see the standard, [and] hear the sound of the trumpet?
BLB: How long will I see the standard, [and] hear the voice of the shofar?

ÅB: Hvor lenge skal jeg se banneret, skal jeg høre basunlyd?
OTB: Hvor lenge må jeg være vitne til kampstandarden og høre lyden av trompeten?
B1930: Hvor lenge skal jeg se banneret, skal jeg høre basunlyd?

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

2 Chronicles 36:6–7
Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jehoiakim and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.
Read in context
2 Chronicles 35:25
Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the choirs of men and women sing laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.
Read in context
2 Chronicles 36:10
In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar summoned Jehoiachin and brought him to Babylon, along with the articles of value from the house of the LORD. And he made Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Read in context
Jeremiah 4:5–6
Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves and let us flee to the fortified cities.’
Read in context
2 Chronicles 36:3
And the king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
Read in context
Jeremiah 6:1
“Run for cover, O sons of Benjamin; flee from Jerusalem! Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; send up a signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms from the north, even great destruction.
Read in context
2 Chronicles 36:17
So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,
Read in context
Jeremiah 4:19
My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.
Read in context