Jeremiah 20:7-9

Good News Translation

Jeremiah Complains to the Lord

⁷Lord, you have deceived me,
    and I was deceived.
You are stronger than I am,
    and you have overpowered me.
Everyone makes fun of me;
    they laugh at me all day long.

⁸Whenever I speak, I have to cry out
    and shout, “Violence! Destruction!”
Lord, I am ridiculed and scorned all the time
    because I proclaim your message.
⁹But when I say, “I will forget the Lord
    and no longer speak in his name,”
then your message is like a fire
    burning deep within me.
I try my best to hold it in,
    but can no longer keep it back.