Jeremiah 4:19

"My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I cannot hold my peace; because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents destroyed, and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? For my people are foolish, they know me not; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."

Jeremiah was evidently not the owner of the many tents suggested in Jeremiah 4:20; and therefore it seems better to accept this paragraph as did Jamieson: "The prophet suddenly assumes the language of the Jewish state personified lamenting its affliction."[16] "Jeremiah 4:19-22 are best understood as a series of ejaculations, in which the people express their grief at the ravages committed by the enemy."[17]

God did not, however, leave the cries of his people unanswered but promptly supplied the reason that lay behind their dreadful suffering.

"My people are foolish ... sottish ... know me not... no understanding ... wise to do evil ... etc., ..." (Jeremiah 4:22). `Sottish' means `stupefied with drink,' thus adding drunkenness to the list of the debaucheries of the people.

The Anchor Bible has an interesting rendition of Jeremiah 4:22 as follows:

"Ah, my people are fools!

Me they know not.

Stupid sons are they,

Senseless - they.

Clever are they to do wrong,

To do right, they don't know how!"[18]