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19 Lord, hear me and help me!
    Listen to what my enemies are saying.
20 Should they repay evil for good?
    They have dug a pit to kill me,
though I pleaded for them
    and tried to protect them from your anger.
21 So let their children starve!
    Let them die by the sword!
Let their wives become childless widows.
    Let their old men die in a plague,
    and let their young men be killed in battle!
22 Let screaming be heard from their homes
    as warriors come suddenly upon them.
For they have dug a pit for me
    and have hidden traps along my path.
23 Lord, you know all about their murderous plots against me.
    Don’t forgive their crimes and blot out their sins.
Let them die before you.
    Deal with them in your anger.

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19 Lord, pay attention to me.
    Listen to the voice of my accusers!
20 Should good be repaid with evil?
    Yet they have dug a pit to take my life.[a]
Remember! I stood before you
    and spoke good on their behalf
        in order to turn your wrath away from them.
21 Therefore, make their children undergo famine,
    and deliver them over to death in time of war.[b]
May their women be childless widows!
    May their men be slaughtered![c]
May their young men be slain
    by the sword in battle!
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses because you
    have brought a raiding party against them suddenly.
For they have dug a pit to capture me
    and have set[d] traps for my feet.
23 But you, Lord, know all their plots to kill me.
    Don’t forgive their iniquity,
    and don’t erase their sin from your sight.
Let them stumble before you.
    When it’s time for you to be angry, act against them!

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 18:20 Or a pit for me
  2. Jeremiah 18:21 Lit. to the power of the sword.
  3. Jeremiah 18:21 Lit. killed dead
  4. Jeremiah 18:22 Or hidden