Jeremiah 18:19-23

New International Reader's Version

¹⁹ Lord, please listen to me!
    Hear what my enemies are saying about me!
²⁰ Should the good things I’ve done be paid back with evil?
    But my enemies have dug a pit for me.
Remember that I stood in front of you
    and spoke up for them.
    I tried to turn your anger away from them.
²¹ So let their children die of hunger.
    Let my enemies be killed in war.
Let their wives lose their children and husbands.
    Let their men be put to death.
    Let their young men be killed in battle.
²² Bring their enemies against them without warning.
    Let cries be heard from their houses.
They have dug a pit to capture me.
    They have hidden traps for my feet.
²³ But Lord, you know
    all about their plans to kill me.
Don’t forgive their crimes.
    Don’t erase their sins from your sight.
Destroy my enemies.
    Punish them when the time to show your anger comes.