Jeremiah 20
20
Jeremiah and Pashhur
1Now Pashhur son of Immer, the priest in charge of the Temple of the Lord, heard what Jeremiah was prophesying. 2So he arrested Jeremiah the prophet and had him whipped and put in stocks at the Benjamin Gate of the Lord’s Temple.
3The next day, when Pashhur finally released him, Jeremiah said, “Pashhur, the Lord has changed your name. From now on you are to be called ‘The Man Who Lives in Terror.’#20:3 Hebrew Magor-missabib, which means “surrounded by terror”; also in 20:10. 4For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will send terror upon you and all your friends, and you will watch as they are slaughtered by the swords of the enemy. I will hand the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will take them captive to Babylon or run them through with the sword. 5And I will let your enemies plunder Jerusalem. All the famed treasures of the city—the precious jewels and gold and silver of your kings—will be carried off to Babylon. 6As for you, Pashhur, you and all your household will go as captives to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you prophesied that everything would be all right.’”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
7O Lord, you misled me,
and I allowed myself to be misled.
You are stronger than I am,
and you overpowered me.
Now I am mocked every day;
everyone laughs at me.
8When I speak, the words burst out.
“Violence and destruction!” I shout.
So these messages from the Lord
have made me a household joke.
9But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord
or speak in his name,
his word burns in my heart like a fire.
It’s like a fire in my bones!
I am worn out trying to hold it in!
I can’t do it!
10I have heard the many rumors about me.
They call me “The Man Who Lives in Terror.”
They threaten, “If you say anything, we will report it.”
Even my old friends are watching me,
waiting for a fatal slip.
“He will trap himself,” they say,
“and then we will get our revenge on him.”
11But the Lord stands beside me like a great warrior.
Before him my persecutors will stumble.
They cannot defeat me.
They will fail and be thoroughly humiliated.
Their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12O Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
you test those who are righteous,
and you examine the deepest thoughts and secrets.
Let me see your vengeance against them,
for I have committed my cause to you.
13Sing to the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
For though I was poor and needy,
he rescued me from my oppressors.
14Yet I curse the day I was born!
May no one celebrate the day of my birth.
15I curse the messenger who told my father,
“Good news—you have a son!”
16Let him be destroyed like the cities of old
that the Lord overthrew without mercy.
Terrify him all day long with battle shouts,
17because he did not kill me at birth.
Oh, that I had died in my mother’s womb,
that her body had been my grave!
18Why was I ever born?
My entire life has been filled
with trouble, sorrow, and shame.
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Jeremiah 20: NLT
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Jeremiah 20
20
Jeremiah and Pashhur
1Pashhur son of Immer was a priest. He was the highest officer in the Temple of the Lord. When he heard Jeremiah say those things in the Temple yard, 2he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten. And he had Jeremiah’s hands and feet locked between large blocks of wood. This was at the Upper Gate of Benjamin of the Lord’s Temple. 3The next day Pashhur took Jeremiah out from between the blocks of wood. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name for you is not Pashhur. Now his name for you is ‘Surrounded by Terror.’ 4That is your name because of what the Lord says: ‘I will soon make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. You will watch enemies killing your friends with swords. I will give all the people of Judah to the king of Babylon. He will take them away to the country of Babylon, and his army will kill the people of Judah with their swords. 5The people of Jerusalem worked hard to build things and become wealthy, but I will give all these things to their enemies. The king in Jerusalem has many treasures, but I will give all the treasures to the enemy. The enemy will take them and carry them away to the country of Babylon. 6And, Pashhur, you and all the people living in your house will be taken away. You will be forced to go and live in the country of Babylon. You will die in Babylon, and you will be buried in that foreign country. You told lies to your friends. You said these things would not happen. But all your friends will also die and be buried in Babylon.’”
Jeremiah’s Fifth Complaint
7Lord, you tricked me, and I certainly was fooled.
You are stronger than I am, so you won.
I have become a joke.
People laugh at me and make fun of me all day long.
8Every time I speak, I shout.
I am always shouting about violence and destruction.
I tell the people about the message that I received from the Lord.
But they only insult me and make fun of me.
9Sometimes I say to myself, “I will forget about him.
I will not speak anymore in his name.”
But when I say that, his message is like a fire burning inside me!
It feels like it is burning deep in my bones!
I get tired of trying to hold his message inside.
And finally, I am not able to hold it in.
10I hear people whispering against me.
Everywhere, I hear things that frighten me.
Even my friends are speaking against me.
People are just waiting for me to make a mistake.
They are saying, “Let us lie and say that he did something bad.
Maybe we can trick Jeremiah.
Then we will have him.
We will finally be rid of him.
Then we will grab him
and take our revenge on him.”
11But the Lord is with me.
He is like a strong soldier.
So those who are chasing me will fall.
They will not defeat me.
They will fail.
They will be disappointed.
They will be ashamed,
and they will never forget that shame.
12Lord All-Powerful, you test good people.
You look deeply into a person’s mind.
I told you my arguments against these people.
So let me see you give them the punishment they deserve.
13Sing to the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
He saves the lives of the poor!
He saves them from the wicked!
Jeremiah’s Sixth Complaint
14Curse the day that I was born!
Don’t bless the day my mother had me.
15Curse the man who told my father the news that I was born.
“It’s a boy!” he said.
“You have a son.”
He made my father very happy
when he told him the news.
16Let that man be like the cities the Lord destroyed.#20:16 cities the Lord destroyed That is, Sodom and Gomorrah. See Gen. 19.
He had no pity on them.
Let him hear shouts of war in the morning;
let him hear battle cries at noontime,
17because he did not kill me
while I was in my mother’s womb.
If he had killed me then,
my mother would have been my grave,
and I would not have been born.
18Why did I have to come out of her body?
All I have seen is trouble and sorrow,
and my life will end in shame.
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