20Jeremiah 20

Pashhur Arrests Jeremiah

1Pashhur son of Immer was a priest and the chief of temple security. He heard what I had said,Select Jeremiah 20:1

2and so he hit me. Then he had me arrested and put in chains at the Benjamin Gate in the Lord's temple.Select Jeremiah 20:2

3The next day, when Pashhur let me go free, I told him that the Lord had said: No longer will I call you Pashhur. Instead, I will call you Afraid-of-Everything.Select Jeremiah 20:3

4You will be afraid, and you will bring fear to your friends as well. You will see enemies kill them in battle. Then I will let the king of Babylonia take everyone in Judah prisoner, killing some and dragging the rest away to Babylonia.Select Jeremiah 20:4

5He will clean out the royal treasury and take everything else of value from Jerusalem.Select Jeremiah 20:5

6Pashhur, you are guilty of telling lies and claiming they were messages from me. That's why I will let the Babylonians take you, your family, and your friends as prisoners to Babylonia, where you will all die and be buried.Select Jeremiah 20:6

Jeremiah Complains to the

7You tricked me, Lord, and I was really fooled. You are stronger than I am, and you have defeated me. People never stop sneering and insulting me.Select Jeremiah 20:7

8You have let me announce only injustice and death. Your message has brought me nothing but insults and trouble.Select Jeremiah 20:8

9Sometimes I tell myself not to think about you, Lord, or even mention your name. But your message burns in my heart and bones, and I cannot keep silent.Select Jeremiah 20:9

10I heard the crowds whisper, “Everyone is afraid. Now's our chance to accuse Jeremiah!” All of my so-called friends are just waiting for me to make a mistake. They say, “Maybe Jeremiah can be tricked. Then we can overpower him and get even at last.”Select Jeremiah 20:10

11But you, Lord, are a mighty soldier, standing at my side. Those troublemakers will fall down and fail— terribly embarrassed, forever ashamed.Select Jeremiah 20:11

12Lord All-Powerful, you test those who do right, and you know every heart and mind. I have told you my complaints, so let me watch you take revenge on my enemies.Select Jeremiah 20:12

13I sing praises to you, Lord. You rescue the oppressed from the wicked.Select Jeremiah 20:13

14Put a curse on the day I was born! Don't bless that day.Select Jeremiah 20:14

15Put a curse on the man who told my father, “Good news! You have a son.”Select Jeremiah 20:15

16May that man be like the towns you destroyed without pity. Let him hear shouts of alarm in the morning and battle cries at noon.Select Jeremiah 20:16

17He deserves to die for not killing me before I was born. Then my mother's body would have been my grave.Select Jeremiah 20:17

18Why did I have to be born? Was it just to suffer and die in shame?Select Jeremiah 20:18