Jeremiah 20:7-18
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
7 [But Jeremiah said] O Lord, You have persuaded and deceived me, and I was persuaded and deceived; You are stronger than I am and You have prevailed. I am a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I must cry out and complain; I shout, Violence and destruction! For the word of the Lord has become to me a reproach and a derision and has brought me insult all day long.
9 If I say, I will not make mention of [the Lord] or speak any more in His name, in my mind and heart it is as if there were a burning fire shut up in my bones. And I am weary of enduring and holding it in; I cannot [contain it any longer].
10 For I have heard many whispering and defaming, [There is] terror on every side! Denounce him! Let us denounce him! Say all my familiar friends, they who watch for my fall, Perhaps he will be persuaded and deceived; then we will prevail against him, and we will get our revenge on him.
11 But the Lord is with me as a mighty and terrible One; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not overcome [me]. They will be utterly put to shame, for they will not deal wisely or prosper [in their schemes]; their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 But, O Lord of hosts, You Who try the righteous, Who see the heart and the mind, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You have I revealed and committed my cause.
13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For He has delivered the life of the poor and needy from the hands of evildoers.
14 Cursed be the day on which I was born! Let not the day on which my mother bore me be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the tidings to my father, saying, A son is born to you!—making him very glad.
16 And let that man be like the cities which the Lord overthrew, and did not relent. Let him hear the [war] cry in the morning and the shouting of alarm at noon,
17 Because he did not slay me in the womb, so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb always great.
18 Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?
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Jeremiah 20:7-18
New King James Version
Jeremiah’s Unpopular Ministry
7 O Lord, You [a]induced me, and I was persuaded;
(A)You are stronger than I, and have prevailed.
(B)I am [b]in derision daily;
Everyone mocks me.
8 For when I spoke, I cried out;
(C)I shouted, “Violence and plunder!”
Because the word of the Lord was made to me
A reproach and a derision daily.
9 Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him,
Nor speak anymore in His name.”
But His word was in my heart like a (D)burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back,
And (E)I could not.
10 (F)For I heard many [c]mocking:
“Fear on every side!”
“Report,” they say, “and we will report it!”
(G)All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying,
“Perhaps he can be induced;
Then we will prevail against him,
And we will take our revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is (H)with me as a mighty, awesome One.
Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not (I)prevail.
They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper.
Their (J)everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.
12 But, O Lord of hosts,
You who (K)test the righteous,
And see the [d]mind and heart,
(L)Let me see Your vengeance on them;
For I have pleaded my cause before You.
13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
For (M)He has delivered the life of the poor
From the hand of evildoers.
14 (N)Cursed be the day in which I was born!
Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
15 Let the man be cursed
Who brought news to my father, saying,
“A male child has been born to you!”
Making him very glad.
16 And let that man be like the cities
Which the Lord (O)overthrew, and did not relent;
Let him (P)hear the cry in the morning
And the shouting at noon,
17 (Q)Because he did not kill me from the womb,
That my mother might have been my grave,
And her womb always enlarged with me.
18 (R)Why did I come forth from the womb to (S)see [e]labor and sorrow,
That my days should be consumed with shame?
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 20:7 enticed or persuaded
- Jeremiah 20:7 Lit. a laughingstock all the day
- Jeremiah 20:10 slandering
- Jeremiah 20:12 Most secret parts, lit. kidneys
- Jeremiah 20:18 toil
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
