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;

And Pashhur son of Immer the priest—who [is] also overseer, leader in the house of YHWH—hears Jeremiah prophesying these things,

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 Pashhur strikes Jeremiah the prophet, and puts him in the stocks that [are] by the Upper Gate of Benjamin, that [is] by the house of YHWH.

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 it comes to pass on the next day, that Pashhur brings Jeremiah out from the stocks, and Jeremiah says to him, “YHWH has not called your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side.

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 said YHWH: Behold, I am making you for a fear to yourself, And to all loving you, And they have fallen by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes are beholding, And all Judah I give into the hand of the king of Babylon, And he has removed them to Babylon, And he has struck them with the sword.

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 have given all the strength of this city, And all its labor, and all its precious things, Indeed, I give all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, And they have spoiled them, and taken them, And have brought them into 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 you, Pashhur, and all dwelling in your house, Go into captivity. And you enter Babylon, And there you die, and there you are buried, You and all loving you, To whom you have prophesied falsely.”

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.

You have persuaded me, O YHWH, and I am persuaded; You have hardened me, and prevail, I have been for a laughter all the day, Everyone is mocking at me,

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.

Because from the time I speak I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of YHWH has been to me For reproach and for derision all the day.

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.

And I said, “I do not mention Him, Nor do I speak anymore in His Name,” And it has been in my heart As a burning fire shut up in my bones, And I have been weary of containing, And I am not able.

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 evil report of many, “Fear [is] all around!” “Declare, and we declare it!” All my allies are watching [for] my halting, “Perhaps he is enticed, and we prevail over him, And we take our vengeance 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.

And YHWH [is] with me, as a mighty, awesome One, Therefore my persecutors stumble and do not prevail, They have been exceedingly ashamed, For they have not acted wisely, Continuous confusion is not 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.

And, O YHWH of Hosts, trier of the righteous, Beholder of reins and heart, I see Your vengeance on them, For I have revealed my cause to you.

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 to YHWH, praise YHWH, For He has delivered the soul of the needy From the hand of evildoers.

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

Cursed [is] the day in which I was born, The day that my mother bore me, 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 [is] the man who bore tidings [to] my father, Saying, “A male child has been born to you,” Making him very glad!

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;

Then that man has been as the cities, That YHWH overthrew, and did not relent, And he has heard a cry in the morning, And a shout at noontime.

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 has not put me to death from the womb, And my mother is to me—my grave, And her womb [is] a perpetual pregnancy.

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] this? I have come out from the womb To see labor and sorrow, Indeed, my days are consumed in shame!