John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 4:18

"Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reacheth unto thy heart." — Jeremiah 4:18 (ASV)

Your way and your doings have procured these things unto you ,
&c.] The way in which they walked, which was an evil one; and the actions which they committed; their idolatries, backslidings, and rebellions, before spoken of in this and the preceding chapter, were the cause of this siege, and those calamities coming upon them; they had none to blame but themselves; it was their own sinful ways and works which brought this ruin and destruction on them: this is your wickedness ;
the fruit of your wickedness; or, "this your calamity"; that is, is owing to these things; so the word is rendered in (Psalms 141:5) :

because it is bitter ;
not sin, as in (Jeremiah 2:19) , but the punishment of it; the calamity before mentioned; which was hard and heavy, and grievous to be borne, and yet very just; it was by way of retaliation; "they had bitterly provoked the Lord", as the word may be rendered in the preceding verse; and now he sends them a bitter calamity, and a heavy judgment: because it reaches unto your heart ;
into the midst of them, and utterly destroyed them.

The two last clauses may be rendered, "though it is bitter, though it reaches unto your heart" ^F4 ; though it is such a sore distress, and such an utter destruction, yet it was to be ascribed to nothing else but their own sins and transgressions.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F4: (egn yk rm yk) "quamvis amarum sit, quamvis pertigerit", Calvin.