Add parallel Print Page Options

Jeremiah Denounces His Persecutors

O Lord, you have enticed me,
    and I was enticed;
you have overpowered me,
    and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
    everyone mocks me.(A)
For whenever I speak, I must cry out;
    I must shout, “Violence and destruction!”
For the word of the Lord has become for me
    a reproach and derision all day long.(B)
If I say, “I will not mention him
    or speak any more in his name,”
then within me there is something like a burning fire
    shut up in my bones;
I am weary with holding it in,
    and I cannot.(C)
10 For I hear many whispering:
    “Terror is all around!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
    All my close friends
    are watching for me to stumble.
“Perhaps he can be enticed,
    and we can prevail against him
    and take our revenge on him.”(D)
11 But the Lord is with me like a terrifying warrior;
    therefore my persecutors will stumble,
    and they will not prevail.
They will be greatly shamed,
    for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
    will never be forgotten.(E)
12 O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous;
    you see the heart and the mind;
let me see your retribution upon them,
    for to you I have committed my cause.(F)

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

Read full chapter

It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
    that shame has covered my face.(A)
I have become a stranger to my kindred,
    an alien to my mother’s children.(B)

It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
    the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.(C)
10 When I humbled my soul with fasting,[a]
    they insulted me for doing so.(D)
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
    I became a byword to them.(E)
12 I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
    and the drunkards make songs about me.(F)

13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
    At an acceptable time, O God,
    in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help(G) 14 rescue me
    from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
    and from the deep waters.(H)
15 Do not let the flood sweep over me
    or the deep swallow me up
    or the Pit close its mouth over me.(I)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 69.10 Gk Syr: Heb I wept, with fasting my soul, or I made my soul mourn with fasting

16 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
    according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.(A)
17 Do not hide your face from your servant,
    for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.(B)
18 Draw near to me; redeem me;
    set me free because of my enemies.

Read full chapter