Jeremiah 20

1Now Pashhur the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of YHWH, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.

2Then Pashhur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of YHWH.

3And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him: ‘YHWH hath not called thy name Pashhur, but Magormissabib [That is, Terror on every side].

4For thus saith YHWH: Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.

5Moreover I will give all the store of this city, and all the gains thereof, and all the wealth thereof, yea, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, who shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.

6And thou, Pashhur, and all that dwell in thy house shall go into captivity; and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and there shalt thou be buried, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied falsely.’

7O YHWH, Thou hast enticed me, and I was enticed, Thou hast overcome me, and hast prevailed; I am become a laughing-stock all the day, Every one mocketh me.

8For as often as I speak, I cry out, I cry: ‘Violence and spoil’; Because the word of YHWH is made A reproach unto me, and a derision, all the day.

9And if I say: ‘I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak any more in His name’, Then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire Shut up in my bones, And I weary myself to hold it in, But cannot.

10For I have heard the whispering of many, Terror on every side: ‘Denounce, and we will denounce him’; Even of all my familiar friends, Them that watch for my halting: ‘Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, And we shall take our revenge on him.’

11But YHWH is with me as a mighty warrior; Therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; They shall be greatly ashamed, because they have not prospered, Even with an everlasting confusion which shall never be forgotten.

12But, O YHWH of hosts, that triest the righteous, That seest the reins and the heart, Let me see Thy vengeance on them; For unto Thee have I revealed my cause.

13Sing unto YHWH, Praise ye YHWH; For He hath delivered the soul of the needy From the hand of evil-doers.

14Cursed be the day Wherein I was born; The day wherein my mother bore me, Let it not be blessed.

15Cursed be the man who brought tidings To my father, saying: ‘A man-child is born unto thee’; Making him very glad.

16And let that man be as the cities Which YHWH overthrew, and repented not; And let him hear a cry in the morning, And an alarm at noontide;

17Because He slew me not from the womb; And so my mother would have been my grave, And her womb always great.

18Wherefore came I forth out of the womb To see labour and sorrow, That my days should be consumed in shame?