Jeremiah 20:14-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
14 Cursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!(A)
15 Cursed be the man
who brought the news to my father, saying,
“A child is born to you, a son,”
making him very glad.(B)
16 Let that man be like the cities
that the Lord overthrew without pity;
let him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,(C)
17 because he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave
and her womb forever pregnant.(D)
18 Why did I come forth from the womb
to see toil and sorrow
and spend my days in shame?(E)
Jeremiah 20:14-18
International Standard Version
Jeremiah Curses the Day of His Birth
14 Let the day on which I was born be cursed.
Don’t let the day on which my mother gave birth to me be blessed.
15 Cursed is the person who brought
the good news to my father,
“A baby boy has been born to you,”
making him very happy.
16 May that man be like the cities that
the Lord overthrew without compassion.
Let him hear a cry in the morning,
and a battle cry at noon,
17 because he didn’t kill me in the womb,
so that my mother would have been my grave
and her womb forever pregnant.
18 Why did I ever come out of the womb
to see trouble and sorrow,
and to finish my life living in shame?
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.