Jeremiah 20
20
Pashhur Arrests Jeremiah
1Pashhur son of Immer was a priest and the chief of temple security. He heard what I had said, 2and so he hit me.#20.2 hit me: Or “beat me up” or “had me beaten up.” Then he had me arrested and put in chains#20.2 in chains: Or “in the stocks” (a wooden frame with holes for the hands, neck, or feet of a prisoner) or “in a prison cell.” at the Benjamin Gate in the Lord's temple.#20.2 the Benjamin Gate in the Lord's temple: The Hebrew text has “the upper Benjamin Gate in the temple”; the lower Benjamin Gate may have been the city gate of that name. 3The next day, when Pashhur let me go free, I told him that the Lord had said:
No longer will I call you Pashhur. Instead, I will call you Afraid-of-Everything.#20.3 Afraid-of-Everything: Hebrew “Magor-Missabib.” 4You will be afraid, and you will bring fear to your friends as well. You will see enemies kill them in battle. Then I will let the king of Babylonia take everyone in Judah prisoner, killing some and dragging the rest away to Babylonia. 5He will clean out the royal treasury and take everything else of value from Jerusalem.
6Pashhur, you are guilty of telling lies and claiming they were messages from me. That's why I will let the Babylonians take you, your family, and your friends as prisoners to Babylonia, where you will all die and be buried.
Jeremiah Complains to the Lord
7You tricked me, Lord,
and I was really fooled.
You are stronger than I am,
and you have defeated me.
People never stop sneering
and insulting me.
8You have let me announce
only injustice and death.
Your message has brought me
nothing but insults
and trouble.
9Sometimes I tell myself
not to think about you, Lord,
or even mention your name.
But your message burns
in my heart and bones,
and I cannot keep silent.
10I heard the crowds whisper,
“Everyone is afraid.
Now's our chance
to accuse Jeremiah!”
All of my so-called friends
are just waiting
for me to make a mistake.
They say, “Maybe Jeremiah
can be tricked.
Then we can overpower him
and get even at last.”
11But you, Lord,
are a mighty soldier,
standing at my side.
Those troublemakers
will fall down and fail—
terribly embarrassed,
forever ashamed.
12 Lord All-Powerful,
you test those who do right,
and you know every heart
and mind.
I have told you my complaints,
so let me watch you
take revenge on my enemies.
13I sing praises to you, Lord.
You rescue the oppressed
from the wicked.
14 #
Job 3.1-19. Put a curse on the day I was born!
Don't bless that day.
15Put a curse on the man
who told my father, “Good news!
You have a son.”
16May that man be like the towns
you destroyed without pity.
Let him hear shouts of alarm
in the morning
and battle cries at noon.
17He deserves to die
for not killing me
before I was born.
Then my mother's body
would have been my grave.
18Why did I have to be born?
Was it just to suffer
and die in shame?
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
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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