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Jeremiah 4:21

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

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

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

  • KJV King James Version

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

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

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

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Cross-references (8)

Passages linked to Jeremiah 4:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • 2 Chronicles 35:25 Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day; and they made them an ordinance in Israel. Behold, they are written in the lamentations.
  • 2 Chronicles 36:3 The king of Egypt removed him from office at Jerusalem, and fined the land one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
  • 2 Chronicles 36:6-7 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also carried some of the vessels of Yahweh’s house to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
  • 2 Chronicles 36:10 At the return of the year, king Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the valuable vessels of Yahweh’s house, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
  • 2 Chronicles 36:17 Therefore he brought on them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or gray-headed. He gave them all into his hand.
  • Jeremiah 4:5-6 Declare in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, ‘Blow the trumpet in the land!’ Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves! Let’s go into the fortified cities!’ Set up a standard toward Zion. Flee for safety! Don’t wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.”
  • Jeremiah 6:1 “Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the middle of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem, for evil looks out from the north with a great destruction.
  • Jeremiah 4:19 My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart! My heart trembles within me. I can’t hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (10 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He concludes that part of his discourse, which, as…

He concludes that part of his discourse, which, as we have said, he embellished with figurative terms, in order more fully to rouse slow and torpid minds: but he confirms what he said at the beginning of the last verse

(Jeremiah 4:20) “Distress has been summoned upon distress.”

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He indeed repeats in other words the same thing, How long shall I see the standard, he says, and hear the sound of the trumpet? that is, “You are greatly deceived, if ye think that your enemies, after having for a short time marched through the land, will return home: for the evil of war will for a long time afflict you, and God will protract your calamities, so that the sound of trumpets will continue, and the standard will often, and even every day, be exhibited.”

We now then perceive the Prophet’s meaning: He first shews, that though their enemies were afar off, they would yet come suddenly, and that the horses of God would be, according to what he said yesterday, swifter than eagles. He afterwards refers to the continued progress of the war; for it was necessary to shew to the Jews, that as they had long heedlessly despised God, so his vengeance would not be momentary, but would lie on them, so as to be without end.

Now we ought to know that at this day there is no less dullness than among the Jews. It is therefore not enough to summon the ungodly and the wicked before God’s tribunal, but such metaphorical language ought to be employed as may strike terror, and constrain them to fear, though they may endeavor in every way to harden their own consciences and stupefy themselves, so as to be capable of easily despising God. It is then necessary, that at the present day the servants of God should also speak more strongly and vehemently, that they may rouse hypocrites and the obstinate from their torpor. It then follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 4:21 How long shall I see the standard,…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He seems to have these concomitants of war, both…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain How long shall I see the standard,.... "Ensign" or…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jer 4:21-22. How long shall I see the standard,…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The standard - See Jer 4:6. The alarm caused…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Judah in perplexity asks, How long is this state…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (21) How long shall I see . . .—The…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Shall I see the standard. (See on ver. 6)
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 How long will I see the standard? Will I…

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