Jeremiah 20
1 Pashhur, son of Immer, was a priest and the official in charge of the Lord's Temple. When he heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,
And when Pashhur son of Immer, the priest, who also was deputy-overseer in the house of Yahweh, heard that Jeremiah had prophesied these things,
2 he beat Jeremiah the prophet and had him put in the stocks at the Upper Benjamin Gate, near to the Lord's Temple.
then Pashhur smote Jeremiah the prophet, —and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Yahweh.
3 The following day, when Pashhur had Jeremiah released from the stocks, Jeremiah told him, “The Lord doesn't call you Pashhur (tear in pieces), but Magor-missabib (terror is everywhere).
And it came to pass on the morrow, when Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks, —that Jeremiah said unto him—Not Pashhur, hath Yahweh called thy name, But Magor-missaviv["Terror-round-about"].
4 For this is what the Lord says: I'm going to make you terrified—you and all those you love. Enemies will kill them as you watch. I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will kill some, and the rest he will take away into exile in Babylon.
For, Thus, saith Yahweh—Behold me! making thee a ["magor" i. e. a] terror to thyself and to all who love thee, and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, thine own eyes also, beholding, And all Judah, will I deliver into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them captive to Babylon and smite them with the sword.
5 I'm going to give it all away. All the wealth of this city, all the results of hard work, all the valuables, all the crown jewels of Judah's kings—I'm going to hand it over to their enemies, who will take it as plunder and carry it off to Babylon.
And I will deliver up—All the wealth of this city, and All her labour, and All her precious things, —And all the treasures of the kings of Judah, will I deliver up into the hands of their enemies, and they will make of them a prey, and take them, and carry them into Babylon.
6 You, Pashhur, and everyone who lives with you, will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon. You will die there and be buried—you and all those you love, those to whom you prophesied lies.”
And, thou, Pashhur and all who are dwelling in thy house, shall go into captivity, —Yea into Babylon, shalt thou enter And there, shalt thou die And there, shalt thou be buried Thou and all who love thee, to whom thou hast prophesied falsely.
7 You fooled me, Lord, and I let myself be fooled! You're stronger than me—you've won! I've become a joke people laugh at all day long. Everyone is mocking me.
Thou didst persuade me, O Yahweh and I was persuaded, Thou didst lay firm hold on me and didst prevail, —I am become a mockery, all the day, Every one, is laughing at me.
8 This is because every time I open my mouth I have to shout out warnings of violence and destruction. The Lord's message has become the reason people criticize and ridicule me the whole time.
For, as often as I speak, I make outcry, Violence and wasting, I proclaim, —Yea the word of Yahweh hath become to me a reproach and derision all the day
9 If I tell myself, “I won't talk about him anymore, I won't even mention his name,” then his message is like a fire trapped within me, burning me from the inside out. I'm getting tired of holding it in. I just can't win.
Therefore I say—I will not mention him Neither will I speak any more in his name, But then it becometh in my heart as a fire that burneth, Shut up in my bones, —And I am weary of restraint and cannot refrain.
10 I've heard many people gossiping: “He's the one who says, ‘terror is everywhere!’ He has to be reported! Report what he's doing!” All my good friends are waiting for me to slip up. “Maybe he'll make a mistake so we can defeat him and get our revenge on him,” they say.
Because I have heard the whispering of many—"A terror round about!" Tell ye [say they], that we may tell of him, All the men I am wont to salute do watch for my halting, —Peradventure he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail over him, and take our vengeance upon him.
11 But the Lord stands beside me like a powerful warrior. So those who are attacking me will fall. They won't win! Because they're not successful they will be totally disgraced. Their shame won't ever be forgotten.
But, Yahweh, is with me, as a mighty one striking terror, For this cause, shall my persecutors stumble and not prevail, —They have turned very pale, For they have not prospered, Confusion age-abiding, it shall not be forgotten!
12 Lord Almighty, you know without question who is living right. You examine people's thoughts and feelings. So let me see your punishment fall on them, because I've trusted you to judge my case.
But O Yahweh of hosts—Testing the righteous Beholding the affections and the heart, —Let me see thine avenging upon them, For unto thee, have I laid bare my cause.
13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For he saves the poor from the power of the wicked.
Sing ye to Yahweh! Praise ye Yahweh! For he hath delivered the soul of the needy, out of the hand of evildoers.
14 May the day I was born be cursed! May the day my mother gave birth to me never be blessed!
Accursed, be the day on which I was born, —The day when my mother bare me, let it not be blessed!
15 May the man be cursed who brought my father the news that made him really happy, saying, “You have a son.”
Accursed, be the man who carried tidings to my father saying, There is born to thee a man-child!
16 May that man be like the towns that the Lord destroyed without mercy. May he hear shouts of alarm in the morning and war-cries at noon,
Making him very glad: Yea let that man be—as the cities which Yahweh overthrew and repented not, —And let him hear An outcry in the morning, and A war-shout at broad noon!
17 because he should have killed me in the womb so that my mother would have been my grave, remaining pregnant forever.
Because I was not slain from the womb, —Nor did my mother become my grave, Nor was her womb great for ever!
18 Why was I born only to see trouble and sadness, and to end my life in shame?
Wherefore was it—That from the womb, I came forth, to see labour and pain; and That in shame should my days be consumed!
