20:1 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the chief officer in the temple of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,
20:2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD’S temple.
20:3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD’S name for you is not Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib.
20:4 For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword.
20:5 I will hand over to their enemies all the wealth of this city–all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to Babylon.
20:6 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 lies.’”
20:7 O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.
20:8 Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long.
20:9 But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
20:10 I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side! Report him! Let’s report him!” All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.”
20:11 But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.
20:12 O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
20:13 Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.
20:14 Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
20:15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, who made him very glad, saying, “A child is born to you–a son!”
20:16 May that man be like the towns the LORD overthrew without pity. May he hear wailing in the morning, a battle cry at noon.
20:17 For he did not kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave, her womb enlarged forever.
20:18 Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?
20:1 Now Pashhur the son of Immer, the priest, who was chief officer in the house of Jehovah, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.
20:2 And Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were at the upper gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of Jehovah.
20:3 And on the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, Jehovah no longer calls your name Pashhur, but Magor-missabib.
20:4 For thus says Jehovah, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends, and they will fall by the sword of their enemies while your eyes look on; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will exile them to Babylon and strike them with the sword.
20:5 I will also give all the wealth of this city and all its gains and all its precious things; indeed all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give into the hand of their enemies, who will plunder them and capture them and bring them to Babylon.
20:6 And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house will go into captivity and you will go to Babylon and die there and be buried there, you and all your friends to whom you prophesied falsely.
20:7 You have enticed me, O Jehovah, and I let myself be enticed; / You have laid hold of me and have prevailed. / I have become a laughingstock all day long; / Everyone mocks me.
20:8 For whenever I speak, I cry out; / I proclaim violence and destruction; / For the word of Jehovah has become to me / A reproach and a derision all day long.
20:9 But if I say, I will not mention Him / Or speak anymore in His name, / Then it is in my heart like a burning fire, / Shut up in my bones, / And I am weary of holding it in, / Nor can I.
20:10 For I hear the slander of many, / Terror on every side: / Denounce; yes, let us denounce him. / Every familiar friend / Is watching for my stumbling: / Perhaps he will be deceived so we can prevail against him / And take our revenge on him.
20:11 But Jehovah is with me like a mighty one who terrifies; / Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail; / They will be greatly ashamed, for they have not prospered, / With an eternal humiliation that will not be forgotten.
20:12 But, O Jehovah of hosts, who tries the righteous, / Who sees the inward parts and the heart, / Let me see Your vengeance on them, / For I have revealed my cause to You.
20:13 Sing to Jehovah; / Praise Jehovah; / For He has delivered the soul of the poor / From the hand of the evildoers.
20:14 Cursed be the day / On which I was born; / Let not the day be blessed / On which my mother bore me.
20:15 Cursed be the man who brought good news / To my father, saying, / A male child has been born to you, / Causing him much joy.
20:16 And let that man be like the cities / Which Jehovah overthrew and did not repent, / And let him hear the cry in the morning / And the alarm in the noontime;
20:17 Because he did not put me to death at the womb, / That my mother might be my grave, / And her womb always pregnant.
20:18 Why is this? Did I come out from the womb / To see trouble and sorrow, / That my days may be spent in shame?