20
Pashhur Persecutes Jeremiah
1 When Pashhur the priest, the son of
AImmer, who was
Bchief officer in the house of the Loʀᴅ, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,
2 Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet
Abeaten and put him in the
Bstocks that were at the upper
CBenjamin Gate, which was by the house of the Loʀᴅ.
3 On the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name the Loʀᴅ has
Acalled you, but rather
1BMagor-missabib.
4 “For thus says the Loʀᴅ, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a
Aterror to yourself and to all your friends; and while
Byour eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will
Cgive over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away as
Dexiles to Babylon and will slay them with the sword.
5 ‘I will also give over all the
Awealth of this city, all its produce and all its costly things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give over to the
Bhand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away and bring them to Babylon.
6 ‘And you,
APashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die and there you will be buried, you and all your
Bfriends to whom you have
Cfalsely prophesied.’ ”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
7 O Loʀᴅ, You have deceived me and I was deceived;
You have
Aovercome me and prevailed.
I have become a
Blaughingstock all day long;
8 For each time I speak, I cry aloud;
I
Aproclaim violence and destruction,
Because for me the
Bword of the Loʀᴅ has
1resulted
In reproach and derision all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not
Aremember Him
Or speak anymore in His name,”
Then in
Bmy heart it becomes like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
And I am weary of holding it in,
10 For
AI have heard the whispering of many,
CDenounce
him; yes, let us denounce him!”
1All my
Dtrusted friends,
Watching for my fall, say:
“Perhaps he will be
2deceived, so that we may
Eprevail against him
And take our revenge on him.”
11 But the
ALoʀᴅ is with me like a dread champion;
Therefore my
Bpersecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will be utterly ashamed, because they have
1failed,
With an
Ceverlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.
12 Yet, O Loʀᴅ of hosts, You who
Atest the righteous,
Who see the
1mind and the heart;
Let me
Bsee Your vengeance on them;
For
Cto You I have set forth my cause.
13 ASing to the Loʀᴅ, praise the Loʀᴅ!
For He has
Bdelivered the soul of the needy one
From the hand of evildoers.
14 Cursed be the
Aday when I was born;
Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news
To my father, saying,
“A
1Ababy boy has been born to you!”
And made him very happy.
16 But let that man be like the cities
Which the Loʀᴅ
Aoverthrew without
1relenting,
And let him hear an
Boutcry in the morning
And a
2shout of alarm at noon;
17 Because he did not
Akill me
1before birth,
So that my mother would have been my grave,
And her womb ever pregnant.
18 Why did I ever come forth from the womb
To
Alook on trouble and sorrow,
So that my
Bdays have been spent in
Cshame?