Jeremiah 20
1 Pashhur, the son of Immer, was a priest who supervised the temple guards. He heard those things that I had prophesied.
| וישמע פשחור בן אמר הכהן והוא פקיד נגיד בבית יהוה את ירמיהו נבא את הדברים האלה׃ |
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.
| ויכה פשחור את ירמיהו הנביא ויתן אתו על המהפכת אשר בשער בנימן העליון אשר בבית יהוה׃ |
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’,
| ויהי ממחרת ויצא פשחור את ירמיהו מן המהפכת ויאמר אליו ירמיהו לא פשחור קרא יהוה שמך כי אם מגור מסביב׃ |
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.
| כי כה אמר יהוה הנני נתנך למגור לך ולכל אהביך ונפלו בחרב איביהם ועיניך ראות ואת כל יהודה אתן ביד מלך בבל והגלם בבלה והכם בחרב׃ |
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.
| ונתתי את כל חסן העיר הזאת ואת כל יגיעה ואת כל יקרה ואת כל אוצרות מלכי יהודה אתן ביד איביהם ובזזום ולקחום והביאום בבלה׃ |
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.’”
| ואתה פשחור וכל ישבי ביתך תלכו בשבי ובבל תבוא ושם תמות ושם תקבר אתה וכל אהביך אשר נבאת להם בשקר׃ |
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.
| פתיתני יהוה ואפת חזקתני ותוכל הייתי לשחוק כל היום כלה לעג לי׃ |
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.
| כי מדי אדבר אזעק חמס ושד אקרא כי היה דבר יהוה לי לחרפה ולקלס כל היום׃ |
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.
| ואמרתי לא אזכרנו ולא אדבר עוד בשמו והיה בלבי כאש בערת עצר בעצמתי ונלאיתי כלכל ולא אוכל׃ |
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.’
| כי שמעתי דבת רבים מגור מסביב הגידו ונגידנו כל אנוש שלומי שמרי צלעי אולי יפתה ונוכלה לו ונקחה נקמתנו ממנו׃ |
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.
| ויהוה אותי כגבור עריץ על כן רדפי יכשלו ולא יכלו בשו מאד כי לא השכילו כלמת עולם לא תשכח׃ |
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.”
| ויהוה צבאות בחן צדיק ראה כליות ולב אראה נקמתך מהם כי אליך גליתי את ריבי׃ |
13 Sing to Yahweh! Praise Yahweh! He rescues [poor and] needy people, from those [SYN] who are wicked.
| שירו ליהוה הללו את יהוה כי הציל את נפש אביון מיד מרעים׃ |
14 But I hope/desire that the day that I was born will be cursed. I do not want [anyone to] celebrate that day.
| ארור היום אשר ילדתי בו יום אשר ילדתני אמי אל יהי ברוך׃ |
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.
| ארור האיש אשר בשר את אבי לאמר ילד לך בן זכר שמח שמחהו׃ |
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.
| והיה האיש ההוא כערים אשר הפך יהוה ולא נחם ושמע זעקה בבקר ותרועה בעת צהרים׃ |
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.
| אשר לא מותתני מרחם ותהי לי אמי קברי ורחמה הרת עולם׃ |
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?
| למה זה מרחם יצאתי לראות עמל ויגון ויכלו בבשת ימי׃ |
