Jeremiah 20 - Legacy Standard Bible

Jeremiah 20

Yahweh Speaks Against Pashhur

Then Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was ruling overseer in the house of Yahweh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words; 2 and Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet struck and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of Yahweh. 3 Now it happened that on the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks. And Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name Yahweh has called you, but rather Magor-missabib. 4 For thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take them away into exile to Babylon and will strike them down with the sword. 5 I will also give over all the wealth of this city, all the fruit of its labor, and all its precious things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give over to the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’”

Jeremiah Curses the Day He Was Born

O Yahweh, You have enticed me, and I was enticed;

You were stronger than I, and You prevailed.

I have become a laughingstock all day long;

Everyone mocks me.

For each time I speak, I cry aloud;

I call out violence and devastation

Because for me the word of Yahweh has resulted

In reproach and derision all day long.

But if I say, “I will not remember Him

Or speak anymore in His name,”

Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire

Shut up in my bones;

And I am weary of holding it in,

And I cannot prevail.

For I have heard the bad report of many,

“Terror on every side!

Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!”

All my trusted friends,

Keeping watch for my fall, say:

“Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against him

And take our revenge on him.”

But Yahweh is with me like a ruthless mighty one;

Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.

They will be utterly ashamed, because they have not prospered,

With an everlasting dishonor that will not be forgotten.

Yet, O Yahweh of hosts, You who test the righteous,

Who see the mind and the heart;

Let me see Your vengeance on them,

For to You I have revealed my cause.

Sing to Yahweh, praise Yahweh!

For He has delivered the soul of the needy one

From the hand of evildoers.

Cursed be the day when I was born;

Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me!

Cursed be the man who brought the good news

To my father, saying,

“A baby boy has been born to you!”

And made him very glad.

But let that man be like the cities

Which Yahweh overthrew without relenting,

And let him hear an outcry in the morning

And a shout of war at noon,

Because he did not put me to death from the womb,

So that my mother would have been my grave,

And her womb ever pregnant.

Why did I ever come forth from the womb

To look on trouble and sorrow,

So that my days have been spent in shame?