Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur

20 Now (A)Pashhur the priest, the son of (B)Immer, who was (C)chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Then (D)Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him (E)in the stocks that were in the upper (F)Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. The next day, when (G)Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name (H)Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you (I)a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. Moreover, (J)I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its (K)prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. And you, (L)Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, (M)to whom you have prophesied falsely.”

O Lord, (N)you have deceived me,
    and I was deceived;
(O)you are stronger than I,
    and you have prevailed.
(P)I have become a laughingstock all the day;
    everyone mocks me.
For whenever I speak, I cry out,
    I shout, (Q)“Violence and destruction!”
For (R)the word of the Lord has become for me
    (S)a reproach and (T)derision all day long.
If I say, “I will not mention him,
    or speak any more in his name,”
(U)there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
    shut up in my bones,
and (V)I am weary with holding it in,
    and I cannot.
10 (W)For I hear many whispering.
    (X)Terror is on every side!
“Denounce him! (Y)Let us denounce him!”
    say all my (Z)close friends,
    (AA)watching for (AB)my fall.
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
    then (AC)we can overcome him
    and take our revenge on him.”
11 But (AD)the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
    therefore my persecutors will stumble;
    (AE)they will not overcome me.
(AF)They will be greatly shamed,
    for they will not succeed.
Their (AG)eternal dishonor
    will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
    (AH)who sees the heart and the mind,[a]
let me see your vengeance upon them,
    for to you have I committed my cause.

13 (AI)Sing to the Lord;
    praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
    from the hand of evildoers.

14 (AJ)Cursed be the day
    on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
    let it not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
“A son is born to you,”
    (AK)making him very glad.
16 Let that man be like (AL)the cities
    that the Lord overthrew without pity;
(AM)let him hear a cry in the morning
    and an alarm at noon,
17 (AN)because he did not kill me in the womb;
    so my mother would have been my grave,
    and her womb forever great.
18 (AO)Why did I come out from the womb
    (AP)to see toil and sorrow,
    and spend my days in shame?

Notas al pie

  1. Jeremiah 20:12 Hebrew kidneys

Jeremiah and Pashhur

20 Now Pashhur son of Immer, the priest in charge of the Temple of the Lord, heard what Jeremiah was prophesying. So he arrested Jeremiah the prophet and had him whipped and put in stocks at the Benjamin Gate of the Lord’s Temple.

The next day, when Pashhur finally released him, Jeremiah said, “Pashhur, the Lord has changed your name. From now on you are to be called ‘The Man Who Lives in Terror.’[a] For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will send terror upon you and all your friends, and you will watch as they are slaughtered by the swords of the enemy. I will hand the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will take them captive to Babylon or run them through with the sword. And I will let your enemies plunder Jerusalem. All the famed treasures of the city—the precious jewels and gold and silver of your kings—will be carried off to Babylon. As for you, Pashhur, you and all your household will go as captives to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you prophesied that everything would be all right.’”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

O Lord, you misled me,
    and I allowed myself to be misled.
You are stronger than I am,
    and you overpowered me.
Now I am mocked every day;
    everyone laughs at me.
When I speak, the words burst out.
    “Violence and destruction!” I shout.
So these messages from the Lord
    have made me a household joke.
But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord
    or speak in his name,
his word burns in my heart like a fire.
    It’s like a fire in my bones!
I am worn out trying to hold it in!
    I can’t do it!
10 I have heard the many rumors about me.
    They call me “The Man Who Lives in Terror.”
They threaten, “If you say anything, we will report it.”
    Even my old friends are watching me,
    waiting for a fatal slip.
“He will trap himself,” they say,
    “and then we will get our revenge on him.”

11 But the Lord stands beside me like a great warrior.
    Before him my persecutors will stumble.
    They cannot defeat me.
They will fail and be thoroughly humiliated.
    Their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
you test those who are righteous,
    and you examine the deepest thoughts and secrets.
Let me see your vengeance against them,
    for I have committed my cause to you.
13 Sing to the Lord!
    Praise the Lord!
For though I was poor and needy,
    he rescued me from my oppressors.

14 Yet I curse the day I was born!
    May no one celebrate the day of my birth.
15 I curse the messenger who told my father,
    “Good news—you have a son!”
16 Let him be destroyed like the cities of old
    that the Lord overthrew without mercy.
Terrify him all day long with battle shouts,
17     because he did not kill me at birth.
Oh, that I had died in my mother’s womb,
    that her body had been my grave!
18 Why was I ever born?
    My entire life has been filled
    with trouble, sorrow, and shame.

Notas al pie

  1. 20:3 Hebrew Magor-missabib, which means “surrounded by terror”; also in 20:10.