Jeremiah 20
20
Jeremiah Beaten by Pashhur
1Pashhur the priest,#1Ch 9:12; Jr 21:1; 38:1 the son of Immer#1Ch 24:14; Ezr 2:37–38 and chief official in the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2So Pashhur had the prophet Jeremiah beaten and put him in the stocks#Jb 13:27; Jr 29:26; Ac 16:24 at the Upper Benjamin Gate#Jr 37:13; 38:7; Zch 14:10 in the Lord’s temple. 3The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call you Pashhur, but Terror Is on Every Side,#20:3 = Magor-missabib 4for this is what the Lord says, ‘I am about to make you a terror to both yourself and those you love.#Jr 6:25; 20:10; 46:5 They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes.#2Sm 12:11; Is 1:7; Jr 16:9; 29:21; 39:16; 51:24 I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will deport them to Babylon and put them to the sword. 5I will give away all the wealth#Pr 15:6 of this city, all its products#Dt 28:33; Ezk 23:29 and valuables. Indeed, I will hand all the treasures of the kings of Judah over to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.#2Kg 20:17; 21:14; Lm 2:7 6As for you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, you will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon.#Jr 34:3; Mc 4:10 There you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you prophesied lies.’”#Jr 5:31; 14:13–14; 23:25–26,32; 27:10,14–16; 29:9,21,31
Jeremiah Compelled to Preach
7You deceived#1Kg 20:20–22; 2Ch 18:20; Jr 15:18 me, Lord, and I was deceived.
You seized me and prevailed.
I am a laughingstock all the time;#Gn 38:23; Jb 12:4; Ps 44:14; Jr 48:26–27,39; Lm 2:15–17; 3:14
everyone ridicules me.
8For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I proclaim, “Violence and destruction!” #Jr 6:7
so the word of the Lord has become my
constant disgrace and derision.
9I say, “I won’t mention him
or speak any longer in his name.”#Ex 5:23; Dt 18:20; Ac 5:40
But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart,#Jb 32:18–20; Ps 39:3
shut up in my bones.
I become tired of holding it in,#Jr 6:11; Am 3:8; 1Co 9:16
and I cannot prevail.
10For I have heard the gossip of many people,
“Terror is on every side!#Jr 6:25; 20:3; 46:5; 49:29
Report him; let’s report him!”
Everyone I trusted#20:10 Lit Every man of my peace watches for my fall.#Ps 35:15; 41:9; 56:6
“Perhaps he will be deceived
so that we might prevail against him
and take our vengeance on him.”
11But the Lord is with me like a violent warrior.#Ex 15:3
Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed,
an everlasting humiliation that will never be forgotten.#Mc 3:7
12 Lord of Armies, testing the righteous
and seeing the heart#20:12 Lit kidneys and mind,
let me see your vengeance on them,
for I have presented my case to you.#Jr 11:20
13Sing to the Lord!
Praise the Lord,
for he rescues the life of the needy
from evil people.
Jeremiah’s Lament
14May the day I was born
be cursed.#Jb 3:3
May the day my mother bore me
never be blessed.
15May the man be cursed
who brought the news to my father, saying,
“A male child is born to you,”
bringing him great joy.
16Let that man be like the cities
the Lord demolished without compassion.#Gn 19:25
Let him hear an outcry in the morning#Jr 18:22
and a war cry at noontime
17because he didn’t kill me in the womb#Jb 3:10–11
so that my mother might have been my grave,
her womb eternally pregnant.
18Why did I come out of the womb
to see only struggle and sorrow,#Jb 3:20; Lm 3:1
to end my life in shame?
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Jeremiah 20: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Jeremiah 20
20
1Now the priest Pashhur,#Jer 21:1. son of Immer, chief officer in the house of the Lord,#Chief officer in the house of the Lord: head of the Temple police; cf. 29:26. By entering the Temple court (19:14), Jeremiah had put himself under Pashhur’s jurisdiction. heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2So he struck the prophet and put him in the stocks at the upper Gate of Benjamin in the house of the Lord.#Jer 29:26. 3The next morning, after Pashhur had released Jeremiah from the stocks, the prophet said to him:#Jer 6:25. “Instead of Pashhur, the Lord names you ‘Terror on every side.’#Terror on every side: the name indicates the siege that will beset Jerusalem. 4For thus says the Lord: Indeed, I will hand you over to terror, you and all your friends. Your own eyes shall see them fall by the sword of their enemies. All Judah I will hand over to the power of the king of Babylon,#Babylon: mentioned here for the first time in Jeremiah as the land of exile. The prophecy dates from after 605 B.C., when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt and made the Babylonian (Chaldean) empire dominant in Syria and Palestine. who shall take them captive to Babylon or strike them down with the sword. 5All the wealth of this city, all its resources and its valuables, all the treasures of the kings of Judah, I will hand over to their enemies, who will plunder it and carry it away to Babylon.#2 Kgs 20:17; 24:12–16. 6You, Pashhur, and all the members of your household shall go into exile. To Babylon you shall go; there you shall die and be buried, you and all your friends, because you have prophesied lies to them.”#Jer 14:13–14; 28:15.
Jeremiah’s Interior Crisis
7You seduced me,#You seduced me: Jeremiah accuses the Lord of having deceived him; cf. 15:18. Lord, and I let myself be seduced;
you were too strong for me, and you prevailed.
All day long I am an object of laughter;
everyone mocks me.
8Whenever I speak, I must cry out,
violence and outrage I proclaim;
The word of the Lord has brought me
reproach and derision all day long.
9I say I will not mention him,
I will no longer speak in his name.
But then it is as if fire is burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones;
I grow weary holding back,
I cannot!#Jer 6:11; Jb 32:18.
10Yes, I hear the whisperings of many:
“Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!”
All those who were my friends
are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
“Perhaps he can be tricked; then we will prevail,
and take our revenge on him.”#Jb 19:19; Ps 31:13; Lk 20:20.
11But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not prevail.
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion.#Jer 1:8; 15:20.
12Lord of hosts, you test the just,
you see mind and heart,
Let me see the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause.#Jer 11:20.
13Sing to the Lord,
praise the Lord,
For he has rescued the life of the poor
from the power of the evildoers!#Ps 35:9–10; 109:30–31.
14Cursed be the day#Deception, sorrow and terror have brought the prophet to the point of despair; nevertheless he maintains confidence in God (vv. 11–13); cf. Jb 3:3–12.
on which I was born!
May the day my mother gave me birth
never be blessed!#Jer 15:10; Jb 3:1–10; 10:18.
15Cursed be the one who brought the news
to my father,
“A child, a son, has been born to you!”
filling him with great joy.
16Let that man be like the cities
which the Lord relentlessly overthrew;
Let him hear war cries in the morning,
battle alarms at noonday,#Gn 19:25; Is 13:19.
17because he did not kill me in the womb!
Then my mother would have been my grave,
her womb confining me forever.#Jb 3:10–11; 10:19.
18Why did I come forth from the womb,
to see sorrow and pain,
to end my days in shame?#Jb 14:1.
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