JEREMIAH.
Chapter 20.
Now the priest, Immer’s son Pashhur, the chief officer of the Lord’s temple, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 
Pashhur struck the prophet Jeremiah and put him in prison at Upper Benjamin Gate that was in the Lord’s temple. 
The next day when Pashhur took Jeremiah out of prison, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord doesn’t call you Pashhur, but he calls you Terror Everywhere. 
This is what the Lord says: I’m going to make you terrify yourself and all your friends. Their enemies’ swords will kill them, and you will see it with your own eyes. I will hand all of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will take the people away as captives to Babylon or kill them with swords. 
I will hand all the riches of this city over to their enemies. This will include all its produce, all its valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. Their enemies will loot them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon. 
And you, Pashhur, and all those who live in your house will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon, and you will die there. You will be buried there together with all your friends to whom you prophesied these lies.” 
O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived. You overpowered me and won. I’ve been made fun of all day long. Everyone mocks me. 
Each time I speak, I have to cry out and shout, “Violence and destruction!” The Lord’s word has made me the object of insults and contempt all day long. 
I think to myself, “I can forget the Lord and no longer speak his name.” But ⌞his word⌟ is inside me like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I wear myself out holding it in, but I can’t do it any longer. 
I have heard many ⌞people⌟ whispering, “Terror is everywhere! Report him! Let’s report him!” All my closest friends are waiting to see me stumble. They say, “Maybe he will be tricked. Then we can overpower him and take revenge on him.” 
But the Lord is on my side like a terrifying warrior. That is why those who persecute me will stumble. They can’t win. They will be very ashamed that they can’t succeed. Their eternal shame will not be forgotten. 
But the Lord of Armies examines the righteous. He sees their motives and thoughts. I want to see you take revenge on them, because I’ve brought my case to you. 
Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! He has rescued the lives of needy people from the power of wicked people. 
Cursed is the day that I was born, the day that my mother gave birth to me. May it not be blessed. 
Cursed is the man who made my father very happy with the news that he had just become the father of a baby boy. 
May that man be like the cities that the Lord destroyed without pity. May he hear a cry of alarm in the morning and a battle cry at noon. 
If only he had killed me while I was in the womb. Then my mother would have been my grave, and she would have always been pregnant. 
Why did I come out of the womb? All I’ve seen is trouble and grief. I will finish my days in shame. 
