Jeremiah 20

1 Pashhur, the son of Immer, was a priest who supervised the temple guards. He heard those things that I had prophesied.

But when Pashchur the son of Immer the priest, who was chief superintendent in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words:

2 [So he arrested me]. Then he [commanded guards to] whip me and fasten my feet in (stocks/a wooden frame) at the Benjamin Gate of Yahweh’s temple.

Then smote Pashchur Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of the Lord.

3 The next day, when Pashhur released me, I said to him, “Pashhur, Yahweh is giving you a new name. From now on, your name will be ‘Surrounded by Terror’,

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashchur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. And Jeremiah said unto him, Not Pashchur [Fulness of Freedom] hath the Lord called thy name, but Magor-missabib [[Terror all around]].

4 because Yahweh says this [to you]: ‘I will cause you and your friends to be terrified. You will watch them being killed by your enemies’ swords. I will enable the [army of the] king of Babylon to capture the people of Judah. Those soldiers will take some of the people to Babylon, and they will kill others with their swords.

For thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thy eyes shall see it; and all Judah will I give into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall lead them into exile to Babylon, and shall smite them with the sword.

5 And I will enable their soldiers to take away [other things in] Jerusalem. They will take to Babylon all the very valuable things that belonged to your kings.

And I will give up all the wealth of this city, and all its acquisitions, and all its precious things; and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them, and take them and carry them away to Babylon.

6 And [as for] you, Pashhur, they will take you and all your family to Babylon. You and your family and all your friends who have prophesied things that are lies will die there and be buried there.’”

And thou, Pashchur, and all the inhabitants of thy house, shall go into captivity; and to Babylon shalt thou come, and there thou shalt die, and there shalt thou be buried, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied with falsehood.

7 [One day I said this to Yahweh]: “Yahweh, [when you chose me to be a prophet, ] deceived me, and I allowed you to deceive me. You insisted that I [become a prophet] and you are stronger than I am. And now everyone [HYP] ridicules me. They make fun of me all the day.

Thou didst persuade me, O Lord, and I was persuaded; thou laidst thy [hand] strongly on me, and didst prevail: I am laughed at all the time, every one mocketh me.

8 When I tell [people your messages], I shout saying, ‘[Yahweh is going to cause you to experience] violence and destruction!’ So because I tell them those messages from you, they insult me and scoff at me all day long.

For as often as I speak must I cry out, violence and wasting must I proclaim; because the word of the Lord is become unto me a disgrace, and a derision, all the time.

9 But if I would say, ‘I will never mention Yahweh or say anything about him, [MTY]’ [it would be as though] your message would burn in my inner being like [SIM] a fire; it would be like a fire in my bones. Sometimes I try to remain silent and not proclaim your messages, but I am not able to do that.

And I thought, I will not make mention of him, and I will not speak any more in his name. But it became in my heart as a burning fire enclosed within my bones, and I was weary with enduring, and I could not overcome it.

10 I hear many people whispering [about me], saying ‘[He is the man who proclaims that there will be things that cause us to] be terrified everywhere. We must tell [the authorities what he is saying]! We must denounce him!’ [Even] my best friends are waiting for me to say something that is wrong. [They are saying], ‘Perhaps we can cause him to say something wrong, and if he does, we will be able to discredit him.’

For I heard the defaming of many, angry assemblies on every side, “Tell, and we will tell of him.” All the men who ought to seek my welfare, watch for my fall; saying, “Peradventure he may he enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we will then take our revenge on him.”

11 But [you], Yahweh, are helping me like [SIM] a strong warrior, so [it is as though] you will cause those who persecute me to stumble, and they will not defeat me. They will be completely disgraced because of being unable to defeat me; and other people will never forget that they were disgraced.

But the Lord is with me as a mighty powerful one; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail: they will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper; [it is] an everlasting confusion which will never be forgotten.

12 Commander of the armies of angels, you examine [all] those who are righteous; you know [all that is in] their inner beings and what they think. Allow me to see you getting revenge on those [who want to harm me], because I trust that you will do for me what is right.”

But, O Lord of hosts, that probest the righteous, seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I laid open my cause.

13 Sing to Yahweh! Praise Yahweh! He rescues [poor and] needy people, from those [SYN] who are wicked.

Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord; for he hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers.

14 But I hope/desire that the day that I was born will be cursed. I do not want [anyone to] celebrate that day.

Cursed be the day whereon I was born: the day on which my mother bore me shall not be blessed.

15 And [as for] that man who brought to my father the news, and caused him to be very happy, by saying “[You wife] has given birth to a son for you”, I hope/desire that he [also] will be cursed.

Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man-child is born unto thee. How very glad did he make him!

16 Allow him to be destroyed like the cities that Yahweh destroyed [long ago], without acting mercifully [toward them]. Cause that man to hear the people wailing in the morning, and [to hear the enemy soldiers shout their] battle cries at noon.

And may that same man become like the cities which the Lord overthrew, and bethought himself not; and may he hear a cry of anguish in the morning, and a tumultuous noise at noontide;

17 [I want that to happen to him] because he did not kill me before I was born. I wish that I had died in my mother’s womb, and that my mother’s body would have been [like] [MET] my grave.

Because I was not slain [as I escaped] from the womb; or that my mother might have become unto me my grave, and her womb have been affected with a perpetual pregnancy.

18 I have continually experienced much trouble and sorrow, and I am disgraced now when I am about to die; why was it necessary [RHQ] for me to me born?

Wherefore was this that I came forth out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow, that my days should pass away in shame?