Jeremiah 20

1 Now it came to the ears of Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief in authority in the house of the Lord, that Jeremiah was saying these things;

Now Paschor the son of Emmer, the priest, who also had been appointed chief of the house of the Lord, heard Jeremias prophesying these words.

2 And Pashhur gave blows to Jeremiah and had his feet chained in a framework of wood in the higher doorway of Benjamin, which was in the house of the Lord.

And he smote him, and cast him into the dungeon which was by the gate of the upper house that was set apart, which was by the house of the Lord.

3 Then on the day after, Pashhur let Jeremiah loose. Then Jeremiah said to him, The Lord has given you the name of Magor-missabib (Cause-of-fear-on-every-side), not Pashhur.

And Paschor brought Jeremias out of the dungeon: and Jeremias said to him, [The Lord] has not called thy name Paschor, but Exile.

4 For the Lord has said, See, I will make you a cause of fear to yourself and to all your friends: they will come to their death by the sword of their haters, and your eyes will see it: and I will give all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will take them away prisoners into Babylon and put them to the sword.

For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I [will] give thee up to captivity with all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall see [it]: and I will give thee and all Juda into the hands of the king of Babylon, and they shall carry them captives, and cut them in pieces with swords.

5 And more than this, I will give all the wealth of this town and all its profits and all its things of value, even all the stores of the kings of Judah will I give into the hands of their haters, who will put violent hands on them and take them away to Babylon.

And I will give all the strength of this city, and all the labours of it, and all the treasures of the king of Juda, into the hands of his enemies, and they shall bring them to Babylon.

6 And you, Pashhur, and all who are in your house, will go away prisoners: you will come to Babylon, and there your body will be put to rest, you and all your friends, to whom you said false words.

And thou and all the dwellers in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt die in Babylon, and there thou and all thy friends shall be buried, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.

7 O Lord, you have been false to me, and I was tricked; you are stronger than I, and have overcome me: I have become a thing to be laughed at all the day, everyone makes sport of me.

Thou hast deceived me, O Lord, and I have been deceived: thou hast been strong, and has prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock, I am continually mocked every day.

8 For every word I say is a cry for help; I say with a loud voice, Violent behaviour and wasting: because the word of the Lord is made a shame to me and a cause of laughing all the day.

For I will laugh with my bitter speech, I will call upon rebellion and misery: for the word of the Lord is become a reproach to me and a mockery all my days.

9 And if I say, I will not keep him in mind, I will not say another word in his name; then it is in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am tired of keeping myself in, I am not able to do it.

Then I said, I will by no means name the name of the Lord, and I will no more at all speak in his name. But it was a burning fire flaming in my bones, and I am utterly weakened on all sides, and cannot bear [up].

10 For numbers of them say evil secretly in my hearing (there is fear on every side): they say, Come, let us give witness against him; all my nearest friends, who are watching for my fall, say, It may be that he will be taken by deceit, and we will get the better of him and give him punishment.

For I have heard the reproach of many gathering round, [saying], Conspire ye, and let us conspire together against him, [even] all his friends: watch his intentions, if perhaps he shall be deceived, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall be avenged on him.

11 But the Lord is with me as a great one, greatly to be feared: so my attackers will have a fall, and they will not overcome me: they will be greatly shamed, because they have not done wisely, even with an unending shame, kept in memory for ever.

But the Lord was with me as a mighty man of war: therefore they persecuted [me], but could not perceive [anything against me]; they were greatly confounded, for they perceived not their disgrace, which shall never be forgotten.

12 But, O Lord of armies, testing the upright and seeing the thoughts and the heart, let me see your punishment come on them; for I have put my cause before you.

O Lord, that provest just [deeds], understanding the reins and hearts, let me see thy vengeance upon them: for to thee I have revealed my cause.

13 Make melody to the Lord, give praise to the Lord: for he has made the soul of the poor man free from the hands of the evil-doers.

Sing ye to the Lord, sing praise to him: for he has rescued the soul of the poor from the hand of evil-doers.

14 A curse on the day of my birth: let there be no blessing on the day when my mother had me.

Cursed be the day wherein I was born: the day wherein my mother brought me forth, let it not be blessed.

15 A curse on the man who gave the news to my father, saying, You have a male child; making him very glad.

Cursed be the man who brought the glad tidings to my father, saying, A male child is born to thee.

16 May that man be like the towns overturned by the Lord without mercy: let a cry for help come to his ears in the morning, and the sound of war in the middle of the day;

Let that man rejoice as the cities which the Lord overthrew in wrath, and repented not: let him hear crying in the morning, and loud lamentation at noon;

17 Because he did not put me to death before my birth took place: so my mother's body would have been my last resting-place, and she would have been with child for ever.

because he slew me not in the womb, and my mother became not my tomb, and her womb always great with me.

18 Why did I come from my mother's body to see pain and sorrow, so that my days might be wasted with shame?

Why is it that I came forth of the womb to see troubles and distresses, and my days are spent in shame?