Jeremiah 20
20
Jeremiah and Pashhur
1Pashhur son of Immer was a priest. He was the highest officer in the Temple of the Lord. He heard Jeremiah prophesying in the Temple courtyard. 2So he 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 the Lord’s name for you is Terror on Every Side. 4That is your name because this is 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. And I will give all the people of Judah to the king of Babylon. He will take them away as captives to Babylon. Then his army will kill them with swords. 5I will give all the wealth of this city to its enemies. I will give them its goods and its valuables. I will give the treasures of the kings of Judah to their enemies. The enemies will carry Judah and all its valuables off to Babylon. 6And Pashhur, you and everyone in your house will be taken away. You will be forced to go as a captive to Babylon. You will die and be buried there. Your friends you have prophesied lies to will also die and be buried in Babylon!’”
Jeremiah’s Fifth Complaint
7Lord, you tricked me, and I was fooled.
You are stronger than I am. So you won.
I have become a joke.
Everyone makes 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 I received from the Lord.
But this only brings me insults. The people make fun of me all day long.
9Sometimes I say to myself,
“I will forget about the Lord.
I will not speak anymore in his name.”
But then the Lord’s message becomes like a burning fire inside me.
It feels like it burns deep within my bones.
I get tired of trying to hold the Lord’s message inside of me.
And finally, I cannot hold it in.
10I hear many people whispering about me:
“Terror on every side!
Let’s tell the rulers about him.”
My friends are all just waiting for me to make some mistake.
They are saying,
“Maybe we can trick Jeremiah.
Then we can defeat him.
Then we can pay him back.”
11But the Lord is with me like a strong warrior.
So those who are chasing me will trip and fall.
They will not defeat me.
They will be very disappointed and ashamed.
Their shame will never be forgotten.
12Lord of heaven’s armies, you test good people.
You look deeply into the heart and mind of a person.
I have 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 life of the poor.
He saves them from the power of wicked people.
Jeremiah’s Sixth Complaint
14Let there be a curse on the day I was born.
Let there be no blessing on the day when my mother gave birth to me.
15Let there be a curse on the man
who brought my father the news:
“You have a son!”
This made my father glad.
16Let that man be like the towns
the Lord destroyed without pity.
Let that man hear loud crying in the morning.
And let him hear battle cries at noon.
17This is because he did not kill me before I was born.
Then my mother would have been my grave.
I would never have been born.
18Why did I have to come out of my mother’s body?
All I have known is trouble and sorrow.
And my life will end in shame.
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Jeremiah 20: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 20
20
1 And Pashhur, the son of Immer, the priest who had been appointed leader in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words.
2 And Pashhur struck the prophet Jeremiah, and he sent him to the stocks, which were at the upper gate of Benjamin at the house of the Lord.
3 And when it had become light on the next day, Pashhur led Jeremiah from the stocks. And Jeremiah said to him: "The Lord has not called your name: 'Pashhur,' but instead: 'Fear all around.' "
4 For thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will give you over to fear, you and all your friends, and they will fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes will see it. And I will give all of Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. And he will lead them away to Babylon, and he will strike them with the sword.
5 And I will give away the entire substance of this city, and all its labor, and every precious thing. And I will give all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hands of their enemies. And they will plunder them, and take them away, and lead them into Babylon.
6 But you, Pashhur, and all the inhabitants of your house, will go into captivity. And you will go to Babylon. And there you shall die. And there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied a lie."
7 "You have led me away, O Lord, and I have been led away. You have been stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a derision all day long; everyone mocks me.
8 For I speak now as I have long spoken: crying out against iniquity and proclaiming devastation. And the word of the Lord has been made into a reproach against me and a derision, all day long.
9 Then I said: I will not call him to mind, nor will I speak any longer in his name. And my heart became like a raging fire, enclosed within my bones. And I became weary of continuing to bear it.
10 For I heard the insults of many, and terror all around: 'Persecute him!' and, 'Let us persecute him!' from all the men who had been at peace with me and who had kept watch by my side. 'If only there were some way that he might be deceived, and we might prevail against him and obtain vengeance from him!'
11 But the Lord is with me, like a strong warrior. For this reason, those who persecute me will fall, and they will be ineffective. They will be greatly confounded. For they have not understood the everlasting disgrace that will never be wiped away.
12 And you, O Lord of hosts, the Tester of the just, who sees the temperament and the heart: I beg you to let me see your vengeance upon them. For I have revealed my case to you.
13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For he has freed the soul of the poor from the hand of the wicked.
14 Cursed is the day on which I was born! The day on which my mother gave birth to me: let it not be blessed!
15 Cursed is the man who announced it to my father, saying, 'A male child has been born to you,' causing him to rejoice with gladness.
16 Let that man be like the cities that the Lord has overthrown without regret. Let him hear an outcry in the morning, and wailing at the time of midday!
17 So let him be, who did not put me to death from the womb, so that my mother would have been my sepulcher, and her womb would have been my eternal resting place!
18 Why did I depart from the womb, so that I would see hardship and sorrow, and so that my days would be consumed by trouble?"
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