Albert Barnes Commentary Jeremiah 5:17

"And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, [which] thy sons and thy daughters should eat; they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds; they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall beat down thy fortified cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword." — Jeremiah 5:17 (ASV)

Or,

It shall eat your harvest and your bread:

They shall eat your sons and your daughters.

It shall eat your sheep and your cattle:

It shall eat your vines and your fig-trees.

They shall impoverish... - Or, It shall batter your fortified cities, in which you trust, with weapons of war. There is probably reference here to an instrument like a battering-ram, with which the Assyrians beat down the walls of their enemies.