Jeremiah 4:21

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.

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

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

²² For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

²³ I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and 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
Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
Read in context
2 Chronicles 35:25
And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.
Read in context
2 Chronicles 36:10
And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Read in context
Jeremiah 4:5–6
Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
Read in context
2 Chronicles 36:3
And the king of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
Read in context
Jeremiah 6:1
O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.
Read in context
2 Chronicles 36:17
Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
Read in 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.
Read in context