Jer 20 | NASB2020 | STEP | When Pashhur the priest , the son of Immer , who was chief overseer in the house of the Lord , heard Jeremiah prophesying these things ,

Jeremiah 20

Pashhur Persecutes Jeremiah

1 When Pashhur the priest, the son of ^aImmer, who was ^bchief overseer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet ^cbeaten and put him in the ^dstocks that were at the upper ^eBenjamin Gate, which was by the house of the Lord. 3 Then on the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name the Lord has ^fcalled you, but rather ^{▼▼I.e., horror on every side
,} ^hMagor-missabib. 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to make you a ⁱhorror to yourself and to all your friends; and while ^jyour eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will ^khand all Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will take them away as ^lexiles to Babylon and will kill them with the sword. 5 I will also give all the ^mwealth of this city, all its produce and all its valuable things--even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will ⁿhand over to their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon. 6 And you, ^oPashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die and there you will be buried, you and all your ^pfriends to whom you have ^qfalsely prophesied.’”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

7 Lord, You persuaded me and I let myself be persuaded;
You have ^rovercome me and prevailed.
I have become a ^slaughingstock all day long;
Everyone ^tmocks me.
8 For each time I speak, I cry aloud;
I ^uproclaim violence and destruction,
Because for me the ^vword of the Lord has ^{▼▼Lit become}resulted
In taunting and derision all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not ^xremember Him
Nor speak anymore in His name,”
Then in ^ymy heart it becomes like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
And I am tired of holding it in,
And ^zI cannot endure it.
10 For ^aaI have heard the whispering of many,
“ ^abTerror on every side!
^acDenounce him; let’s denounce him!”
^{▼▼Lit Every man of my peace}All my ^aetrusted friends,
Watching for my fall, say:
“Perhaps he will be persuaded, so that we may ^afprevail against him
And take our revenge on him.”
11 But the ^agLord is with me like a powerful champion;
Therefore my ^ahpersecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will be put to great shame because they have ^{▼▼Lit not succeeded; or not acted wisely}failed,
An ^ajeverlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.
12 Yet, Lord of armies, who ^aktests the righteous,
Who sees the ^{▼▼Lit kidneys}mind and the heart;
Let me ^amsee Your vengeance on them,
For ^anto You I have disclosed my cause.
13 ^aoSing to the Lord, praise the Lord!
For He has ^apsaved the soul of the needy one
From the hand of evildoers.

14 Cursed be the ^aqday when I was born;
May the day when my mother gave birth to me not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news
To my father, saying,
“A ^{▼▼Lit male child
,} ^asboy has been born to you!”
And made him very happy.
16 But may that man be like the cities
Which the Lord ^atoverthrew without ^{▼▼Lit being sorry}relenting,
And may he hear an ^avoutcry in the morning
And ^{▼▼Or a trumpet blast}an alarm for war at noon;
17 Because he did not ^axkill me ^{▼▼Lit from the womb}before birth,
So that my mother would have been my grave,
And her womb forever pregnant.
18 Why did I ever come out of the womb
To ^azlook at trouble and sorrow,
So that my ^badays have been spent in ^bbshame?