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Jeremiah 17-20
English Standard Version
Jeremiah 17-20
English Standard Version
The Sin of Judah
17 “The sin of Judah is written with (A)a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on (B)the tablet of their heart, and on (C)the horns of their altars, 2 while (D)their children remember their altars and their (E)Asherim, (F)beside every green tree and on the high hills, 3 (G)on the mountains in the open country. (H)Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. 4 You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, (I)and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, (J)for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”
5 Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man (K)who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,[a]
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 (L)He is like a shrub in the desert,
(M)and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in (N)an uninhabited salt land.
7 (O)“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
(P)whose trust is the Lord.
8 (Q)He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
10 (R)“I the Lord search the heart
(S)and test the mind,[b]
(T)to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
11 Like the (U)partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,
so is (V)he who gets riches but not by justice;
(W)in the midst of his days they will leave him,
(X)and at his end he will be a fool.
12 A glorious throne set on high from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, (Y)the hope of Israel,
(Z)all who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you[c] (AA)shall be written in the earth,
for (AB)they have forsaken (AC)the Lord, the fountain of living water.
Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance
14 (AD)Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved,
for (AE)you are my praise.
15 (AF)Behold, they say to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come!”
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd,
nor have I desired the day of sickness.
(AG)You know (AH)what came out of my lips;
it was before your face.
17 Be not a terror to me;
(AI)you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 (AJ)Let those be put to shame who persecute me,
but let me not be put to shame;
(AK)let them be dismayed,
but let me not be dismayed;
(AL)bring upon them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction!
Keep the Sabbath Holy
19 Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which (AM)the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, (AN)you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and (AO)do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 22 And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath (AP)or do any work, but (AQ)keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23 Yet (AR)they did not listen or incline their ear, (AS)but stiffened their neck, that they (AT)might not hear and receive instruction.
24 “‘But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and (AU)bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but (AV)keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25 then (AW)there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. 26 And people shall come from (AX)the cities of Judah (AY)and the places around Jerusalem, (AZ)from the land of Benjamin, (BA)from the Shephelah, from the hill country, (BB)and from (BC)the Negeb, bringing (BD)burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and (BE)bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not listen to me, to (BF)keep the Sabbath day holy, (BG)and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will (BH)kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall (BI)devour the palaces of Jerusalem and (BJ)shall not be quenched.’”
The Potter and the Clay
18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to (BK)the potter's house, and there I will let you hear[d] my words.” 3 So I went down to (BL)the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was (BM)spoiled in the potter's hand, and (BN)he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, (BO)can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. (BP)Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will (BQ)pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, (BR)turns from its evil, (BS)I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will (BT)build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. (BU)Return, every one from his evil way, and (BV)amend your ways and your deeds.’
12 “But they say, (BW)‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to (BX)the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
13 “Therefore thus says the Lord:
(BY)Ask among the nations,
Who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel
has done (BZ)a very horrible thing.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon leave
the crags of Sirion?[e]
Do the mountain waters run dry,[f]
the cold flowing streams?
15 (CA)But my people have forgotten me;
they make offerings to (CB)false gods;
they made them stumble in their ways,
(CC)in the ancient roads,
and to walk into side roads,
(CD)not the highway,
16 making their land (CE)a horror,
a thing (CF)to be hissed at forever.
(CG)Everyone who passes by it is horrified
(CH)and shakes his head.
17 (CI)Like the east wind (CJ)I will scatter them
before the enemy.
(CK)I will show them my back, not my face,
in the day of their calamity.”
18 Then they said, (CL)“Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, (CM)for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. (CN)Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.”
19 Hear me, O Lord,
and (CO)listen to the voice of my adversaries.
20 (CP)Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet (CQ)they have dug a pit for my life.
(CR)Remember how I stood before you
to speak good for them,
to turn away your wrath from them.
21 Therefore (CS)deliver up their children to famine;
give them over to the power of the sword;
let their wives become childless (CT)and widowed.
May their men meet death by pestilence,
their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.
22 (CU)May a cry be heard from their houses,
when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them!
For (CV)they have dug a pit to take me
(CW)and laid snares for my feet.
23 Yet (CX)you, O Lord, know
all their plotting to kill me.
(CY)Forgive not their iniquity,
nor blot out their sin from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.
The Broken Flask
19 Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy (CZ)a potter's earthenware (DA)flask, and take some of (DB)the elders of the people and some of (DC)the elders of the priests, 2 and go out (DD)to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. 3 You shall say, (DE)‘Hear the word of the Lord, (DF)O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that (DG)the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 4 (DH)Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; (DI)and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5 (DJ)and have built the high places of Baal (DK)to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, (DL)which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— 6 therefore, (DM)behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or (DN)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 And in this place (DO)I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, (DP)and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. (DQ)I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city (DR)a horror, (DS)a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. 9 (DT)And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor (DU)in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’
10 “Then (DV)you shall break (DW)the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11 and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, (DX)as one breaks a potter's vessel, (DY)so that it can never be mended. (DZ)Men shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. 12 Thus will I do to this place, declares the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city (EA)like Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah—(EB)all the houses on whose (EC)roofs offerings have been offered (ED)to all the host of heaven, and (EE)drink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled (EF)like the place of Topheth.’”
14 Then Jeremiah came from (EG)Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, (EH)and he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said to all the people: 15 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, (EI)because they have stiffened their neck, (EJ)refusing to hear my words.”
Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur
20 Now (EK)Pashhur the priest, the son of (EL)Immer, who was (EM)chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then (EN)Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him (EO)in the stocks that were in the upper (EP)Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. 3 The next day, when (EQ)Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name (ER)Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you (ES)a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. 5 Moreover, (ET)I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its (EU)prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. 6 And you, (EV)Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, (EW)to whom you have prophesied falsely.”
7 O Lord, (EX)you have deceived me,
and I was deceived;
(EY)you are stronger than I,
and you have prevailed.
(EZ)I have become a laughingstock all the day;
everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, (FA)“Violence and destruction!”
For (FB)the word of the Lord has become for me
(FC)a reproach and (FD)derision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
(FE)there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and (FF)I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
10 (FG)For I hear many whispering.
(FH)Terror is on every side!
“Denounce him! (FI)Let us denounce him!”
say all my (FJ)close friends,
(FK)watching for (FL)my fall.
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then (FM)we can overcome him
and take our revenge on him.”
11 But (FN)the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
(FO)they will not overcome me.
(FP)They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their (FQ)eternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
(FR)who sees the heart and the mind,[g]
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
13 (FS)Sing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.
14 (FT)Cursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
“A son is born to you,”
(FU)making him very glad.
16 Let that man be like (FV)the cities
that the Lord overthrew without pity;
(FW)let him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
17 (FX)because he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb forever great.
18 (FY)Why did I come out from the womb
(FZ)to see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 17:5 Hebrew arm
- Jeremiah 17:10 Hebrew kidneys
- Jeremiah 17:13 Hebrew me
- Jeremiah 18:2 Or will cause you to hear
- Jeremiah 18:14 Hebrew of the field
- Jeremiah 18:14 Hebrew Are foreign waters plucked up
- Jeremiah 20:12 Hebrew kidneys
Jeremiah 17-20
New International Version
Jeremiah 17-20
New International Version
17 “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,(A)
inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts(B)
and on the horns(C) of their altars.
2 Even their children remember
their altars and Asherah poles[a](D)
beside the spreading trees
and on the high hills.(E)
3 My mountain in the land
and your[b] wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,(F)
together with your high places,(G)
because of sin throughout your country.(H)
4 Through your own fault you will lose
the inheritance(I) I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies(J)
in a land(K) you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
and it will burn(L) forever.”
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,(M)
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.(N)
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places(O) of the desert,
in a salt(P) land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed(Q) is the one who trusts(R) in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.(S)
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought(T)
and never fails to bear fruit.”(U)
9 The heart(V) is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart(W)
and examine the mind,(X)
to reward(Y) each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”(Z)
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
and in the end they will prove to be fools.(AA)
12 A glorious throne,(AB) exalted from the beginning,
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 Lord, you are the hope(AC) of Israel;
all who forsake(AD) you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust(AE)
because they have forsaken the Lord,
the spring of living water.(AF)
14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;(AG)
save(AH) me and I will be saved,
for you are the one I praise.(AI)
15 They keep saying to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it now be fulfilled!”(AJ)
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd;
you know I have not desired the day of despair.
What passes my lips(AK) is open before you.
17 Do not be a terror(AL) to me;
you are my refuge(AM) in the day of disaster.(AN)
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,
but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction.(AO)
Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy
19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,[c] through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem.(AP) 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem(AQ) who come through these gates.(AR) 21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath(AS) day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.(AT) 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention;(AU) they were stiff-necked(AV) and would not listen or respond to discipline.(AW) 24 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy(AX) by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne(AY) will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.(AZ) 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev,(BA) bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not obey(BB) me to keep the Sabbath(BC) day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire(BD) in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”(BE)
At the Potter’s House
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay(BF) in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,(BG) Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted,(BH) torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent(BI) and not inflict on it the disaster(BJ) I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built(BK) up and planted, 10 and if it does evil(BL) in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider(BM) the good I had intended to do for it.(BN)
11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster(BO) for you and devising a plan(BP) against you. So turn(BQ) from your evil ways,(BR) each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’(BS) 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use.(BT) We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.(BU)’”
13 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“Inquire among the nations:
Who has ever heard anything like this?(BV)
A most horrible(BW) thing has been done
by Virgin(BX) Israel.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon
ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
Do its cool waters from distant sources
ever stop flowing?[d]
15 Yet my people have forgotten(BY) me;
they burn incense(BZ) to worthless idols,(CA)
which made them stumble(CB) in their ways,
in the ancient paths.(CC)
They made them walk in byways,
on roads not built up.(CD)
16 Their land will be an object of horror(CE)
and of lasting scorn;(CF)
all who pass by will be appalled(CG)
and will shake their heads.(CH)
17 Like a wind(CI) from the east,
I will scatter them before their enemies;
I will show them my back and not my face(CJ)
in the day of their disaster.”
18 They said, “Come, let’s make plans(CK) against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest(CL) will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise,(CM) nor the word from the prophets.(CN) So come, let’s attack him with our tongues(CO) and pay no attention to anything he says.”
19 Listen to me, Lord;
hear what my accusers(CP) are saying!
20 Should good be repaid with evil?(CQ)
Yet they have dug a pit(CR) for me.
Remember that I stood(CS) before you
and spoke in their behalf(CT)
to turn your wrath away from them.
21 So give their children over to famine;(CU)
hand them over to the power of the sword.(CV)
Let their wives be made childless and widows;(CW)
let their men be put to death,
their young men(CX) slain by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry(CY) be heard from their houses
when you suddenly bring invaders against them,
for they have dug a pit(CZ) to capture me
and have hidden snares(DA) for my feet.
23 But you, Lord, know
all their plots to kill(DB) me.
Do not forgive(DC) their crimes
or blot out their sins from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.(DD)
19 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.(DE) Take along some of the elders(DF) of the people and of the priests 2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom,(DG) near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, 3 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings(DH) of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster(DI) on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.(DJ) 4 For they have forsaken(DK) me and made this a place of foreign gods(DL); they have burned incense(DM) in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.(DN) 5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children(DO) in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.(DP) 6 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth(DQ) or the Valley of Ben Hinnom,(DR) but the Valley of Slaughter.(DS)
7 “‘In this place I will ruin[e] the plans(DT) of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies,(DU) at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses(DV) as food(DW) to the birds and the wild animals. 8 I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn;(DX) all who pass by will be appalled(DY) and will scoff because of all its wounds.(DZ) 9 I will make them eat(EA) the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies(EB) will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’
10 “Then break the jar(EC) while those who go with you are watching, 11 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash(ED) this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury(EE) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 12 This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. 13 The houses(EF) in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled(EG) like this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs(EH) to all the starry hosts(EI) and poured out drink offerings(EJ) to other gods.’”
14 Jeremiah then returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court(EK) of the Lord’s temple and said to all the people, 15 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster(EL) I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked(EM) and would not listen(EN) to my words.’”
Jeremiah and Pashhur
20 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer,(EO) the official(EP) in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten(EQ) and put in the stocks(ER) at the Upper Gate of Benjamin(ES) at the Lord’s temple. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name(ET) for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side.(EU) 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes(EV) you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give(EW) all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry(EX) them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. 5 I will deliver all the wealth(EY) of this city into the hands of their enemies—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away(EZ) as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied(FA) lies.’”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
7 You deceived[f](FB) me, Lord, and I was deceived[g];
you overpowered(FC) me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed(FD) all day long;
everyone mocks(FE) me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.(FF)
So the word of the Lord has brought me
insult and reproach(FG) all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”(FH)
his word is in my heart like a fire,(FI)
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;(FJ)
indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many whispering,
“Terror(FK) on every side!
Denounce(FL) him! Let’s denounce him!”
All my friends(FM)
are waiting for me to slip,(FN) saying,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail(FO) over him
and take our revenge(FP) on him.”
11 But the Lord(FQ) is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors(FR) will stumble and not prevail.(FS)
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;(FT)
their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,(FU)
let me see your vengeance(FV) on them,
for to you I have committed(FW) my cause.
13 Sing(FX) to the Lord!
Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues(FY) the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.(FZ)
14 Cursed be the day I was born!(GA)
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
who made him very glad, saying,
“A child is born to you—a son!”
16 May that man be like the towns(GB)
the Lord overthrew without pity.
May he hear wailing(GC) in the morning,
a battle cry at noon.
17 For he did not kill me in the womb,(GD)
with my mother as my grave,
her womb enlarged forever.
18 Why did I ever come out of the womb(GE)
to see trouble(GF) and sorrow
and to end my days in shame?(GG)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 17:2 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
- Jeremiah 17:3 Or hills / 3 and the mountains of the land. / Your
- Jeremiah 17:19 Or Army
- Jeremiah 18:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
- Jeremiah 19:7 The Hebrew for ruin sounds like the Hebrew for jar (see verses 1 and 10).
- Jeremiah 20:7 Or persuaded
- Jeremiah 20:7 Or persuaded
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.