14 Cursed be the (A)day when I was born;
May the day when my mother gave birth to me not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news
To my father, saying,
“A [a](B)boy has been born to you!”
And made him very happy.
16 But may that man be like the cities
Which the Lord (C)overthrew without [b]relenting,
And may he hear an (D)outcry in the morning
And [c]an alarm for war at noon;
17 Because he did not (E)kill me [d]before birth,
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 (F)look at trouble and sorrow,
So that my (G)days have been spent in (H)shame?

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 20:15 Lit male child
  2. Jeremiah 20:16 Lit being sorry
  3. Jeremiah 20:16 Or a trumpet blast
  4. Jeremiah 20:17 Lit from the womb

14 Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. 15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man-child is born unto thee; making him very glad. 16 And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and [a]shouting at noontime; 17 because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great. 18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 20:16 Or, an alarm