In what sense is the man who brought news of his birth to be cursed, and like the cities that the Lord overthrew without pity?

Jeremiah says, Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, 'A son is born to you.' The birth of a son should have been a reason for a father to rejoice, but Jeremiah’s perception of his birth is that no one should have been glad about it, not even his father. Jeremiah continues his dark description of the announcement of his birth saying that the messenger should be like the cities that the Lord overthrew without pity. The comparison is with cities like Sodom and Gomorrah that the Lord destroyed because of their wickedness. These cities would have been filled with cries of distress and alarm when judgment came. It is not the messenger himself that Jeremiah is focusing on. Rather, he is lamenting the fact that his birth, and his subsequent ministry as a prophet of judgment, has brought to Judah the terrifying reality that Sodom and Gomorrah faced. This overwhelms him with feelings of distress and misery.