Jeremiah Compelled to Preach

You deceived(A) me, Lord, and I was deceived.
You seized me and prevailed.
I am a laughingstock all the time;(B)
everyone ridicules me.
For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I proclaim, “Violence and destruction!” (C)
so the word of the Lord has become my
constant disgrace and derision.
I say, “I won’t mention him
or speak any longer in his name.”(D)
But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart,(E)
shut up in my bones.
I become tired of holding it in,(F)
and I cannot prevail.
10 For I have heard the gossip of many people,
“Terror is on every side!(G)
Report him; let’s report him!”
Everyone I trusted[a] watches for my fall.(H)
“Perhaps he will be deceived
so that we might prevail against him
and take our vengeance on him.”

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Footnotes

  1. 20:10 Lit Every man of my peace

Jeremiah’s Lament

You have persuaded me, O Yahweh, and I was persuaded.
    You have overpowered me, and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long.
    Everyone[a] is mocking me.
For as often as[b] I speak,
    I must cry out violence and destruction.
I must shout, for the word of Yahweh has become for me
    a disgrace and derision all day long.
But if I say, “I will not mention him
    and I will no longer speak in his name,”
then it becomes in my heart like a fire burning,
    locked up in my bones,
and I struggle to contain it,[c]
    and I am not able.
10 For I hear the rumor of many,
    “Terror is from all around, denounce him,[d]
    yes, let us denounce him!”
All my close friends[e] are watchers of my stumbling,
    saying, “perhaps he can be persuaded,
and we can prevail over him,
    and we can take our revenge on him.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 20:7 Literally “All of him”
  2. Jeremiah 20:8 Literally “from enough”
  3. Jeremiah 20:9 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  4. Jeremiah 20:10 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  5. Jeremiah 20:10 Literally “All the human being of my peace”