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Jeremiah 20:7-9
New Catholic Bible
Jeremiah 20:7-9
New Catholic Bible
Jeremiah’s Confession[a]
7 O Lord, you deceived me,
and I allowed myself to be deceived.
You were too powerful for me,
and you have prevailed.
All day long I am an object of ridicule;
everyone mocks me.
8 Whenever I speak, I must cry out;
my message is violence and destruction.
For the word of the Lord has caused me to endure
reproach and derision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him
or speak any longer in his name,”
within me I experience a fire burning in my heart
and imprisoned in my bones.
I am weary holding it in,
and I can no longer do so.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 20:7 These pages from the prophet’s personal diary were scrupulously preserved by his disciples and slipped, here and there, in his book. We have already met these “confessions” of the prophet (Jer 11:18—12:6; 15:10-21; 17:12-18; 18:18-23); here, three of the most direct and effective passages are introduced.
