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Jeremiah 20
Contemporary English Version
Jeremiah 20
Contemporary English Version
Pashhur Arrests Jeremiah
20 Pashhur son of Immer was a priest and the chief of temple security. He heard what I had said, 2 and so he hit me.[a] Then he had me arrested and put in chains[b] at the Benjamin Gate in the Lord's temple.[c] 3 The 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.[d] 4 You 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. 5 He will clean out the royal treasury and take everything else of value from Jerusalem.
6 Pashhur, 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
7 You 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.
8 You have let me announce
only injustice and death.
Your message has brought me
nothing but insults
and trouble.
9 Sometimes 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.
10 I 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.”
11 But 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.
13 I sing praises to you, Lord.
You rescue the oppressed
from the wicked.
14 (A) Put a curse on the day I was born!
Don't bless that day.
15 Put a curse on the man
who told my father, “Good news!
You have a son.”
16 May that man be like the towns
you destroyed without pity.
Let him hear shouts of alarm
in the morning
and battle cries at noon.
17 He deserves to die
for not killing me
before I was born.
Then my mother's body
would have been my grave.
18 Why did I have to be born?
Was it just to suffer
and die in shame?
Footnotes
- 20.2 hit me: Or “beat me up” or “had me beaten up.”
- 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.”
- 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.
- 20.3 Afraid-of-Everything: Hebrew “Magor-Missabib.”
Jeremiah 20
New International Version
Jeremiah 20
New International Version
Jeremiah and Pashhur
20 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer,(A) the official(B) in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten(C) and put in the stocks(D) at the Upper Gate of Benjamin(E) at the Lord’s temple. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name(F) for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side.(G) 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes(H) you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give(I) all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry(J) them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. 5 I will deliver all the wealth(K) of this city into the hands of their enemies—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away(L) as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied(M) lies.’”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
7 You deceived[a](N) me, Lord, and I was deceived[b];
you overpowered(O) me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed(P) all day long;
everyone mocks(Q) me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.(R)
So the word of the Lord has brought me
insult and reproach(S) all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”(T)
his word is in my heart like a fire,(U)
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;(V)
indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many whispering,
“Terror(W) on every side!
Denounce(X) him! Let’s denounce him!”
All my friends(Y)
are waiting for me to slip,(Z) saying,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail(AA) over him
and take our revenge(AB) on him.”
11 But the Lord(AC) is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors(AD) will stumble and not prevail.(AE)
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;(AF)
their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,(AG)
let me see your vengeance(AH) on them,
for to you I have committed(AI) my cause.
13 Sing(AJ) to the Lord!
Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues(AK) the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.(AL)
14 Cursed be the day I was born!(AM)
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
who made him very glad, saying,
“A child is born to you—a son!”
16 May that man be like the towns(AN)
the Lord overthrew without pity.
May he hear wailing(AO) in the morning,
a battle cry at noon.
17 For he did not kill me in the womb,(AP)
with my mother as my grave,
her womb enlarged forever.
18 Why did I ever come out of the womb(AQ)
to see trouble(AR) and sorrow
and to end my days in shame?(AS)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 20:7 Or persuaded
- Jeremiah 20:7 Or persuaded
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
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