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Jeremiah 20:7-14

Jeremiah 20:7-18 The Message (MSG)

You pushed me into this, GOD, and I let you do it. You were too much for me. And now I’m a public joke. They all poke fun at me. Every time I open my mouth I’m shouting, “Murder!” or “Rape!” And all I get for my GOD-warnings are insults and contempt. But if I say, “Forget it! No more GOD-Messages from me!” The words are fire in my belly, a burning in my bones. I’m worn out trying to hold it in. I can’t do it any longer! Then I hear whispering behind my back: “There goes old ‘Danger-Everywhere.’ Shut him up! Report him!” Old friends watch, hoping I’ll fall flat on my face: “One misstep and we’ll have him. We’ll get rid of him for good!” But GOD, a most fierce warrior, is at my side. Those who are after me will be sent sprawling— Slapstick buffoons falling all over themselves, a spectacle of humiliation no one will ever forget. Oh, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, no one fools you. You see through everyone, everything. I want to see you pay them back for what they’ve done. I rest my case with you. Sing to GOD! All praise to GOD! He saves the weak from the grip of the wicked. * * * Curse the day I was born! The day my mother bore me— a curse on it, I say! And curse the man who delivered the news to my father: “You’ve got a new baby—a boy baby!” (How happy it made him.) Let that birth notice be blacked out, deleted from the records, And the man who brought it haunted to his death with the bad news he brought. He should have killed me before I was born, with that womb as my tomb, My mother pregnant for the rest of her life with a baby dead in her womb. Why, oh why, did I ever leave that womb? Life’s been nothing but trouble and tears, and what’s coming is more of the same.

Jeremiah 20:7-14 New Century Version (NCV)

LORD, 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. Every 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. Sometimes I say to myself, “I will forget about the LORD. I will not speak anymore in his name.” But then his message becomes like a burning fire inside me, deep within my bones. I get tired of trying to hold it inside of me, and finally, I cannot hold it in. I hear many people whispering about me: “Terror on every side! Tell on him! 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 him so we can defeat him and pay him back.” But 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 ashamed because they have failed, and their shame will never be forgotten. LORD All-Powerful, 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. Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! He saves the life of the poor from the power of the wicked. Let 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.

Jeremiah 20:7-14 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¶[Jeremiah said,] O LORD, You have persuaded me and I was deceived; You are stronger than I and You have prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I must shout out; I shout violence and destruction, Because the word of the LORD has become to me A reprimand and a mockery and has brought me insult all day long. If I say, “I will not remember Him Or speak His name anymore,” Then my heart becomes a burning fire Shut up in my bones. And I am weary of enduring and holding it in; I cannot endure it [nor contain it any longer]. For I have heard the whispering and defaming words of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” All my familiar and trusted friends, [Those who are] watching for my fall, say, “Perhaps he will be persuaded and deceived; then we will overcome him, And take our revenge on him.” But the LORD is with me as a dread champion [one to be greatly feared]; Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not overcome [me]. They will be completely shamed, for they have not acted wisely and have failed [in their schemes]; Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. But, O LORD of hosts, You who examine the righteous, Who see the heart and the mind, Let me see Your vengeance on them; For to You I have committed my cause. Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He has rescued the life of the needy one From the hand of evildoers. ¶Cursed be the day on which I was born; Do not bless the day on which my mother gave birth to me!

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