Psa 120:5, Jer 9:1, 15:10-21, 20:7-18 | ESV | STEP | Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech , that I dwell among the tents of Kedar !

1 ^{▼▼Ch 8:23 in Hebrew} ^eOh that my head were waters,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of ^fthe daughter of my people!

Jeremiah 15:10-21

Jeremiah’s Complaint

10 ^gWoe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! ^hI have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. 11 The Lord said, “Have I not ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? 12 Can one break iron, iron ^jfrom the north, and bronze?

13 ^k“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as ^lspoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. 14 I will make you serve your enemies ^min a land that you do not know, ⁿfor in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

15 ^oO Lord, you know;
^premember me and visit me,
^q, ^rand take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
^sknow that ^tfor your sake I bear reproach.
16 Your words were found, ^uand I ate them,
and ^vyour words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
^wfor I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
17 ^xI did not sit in the company of revelers,
nor did I rejoice;
^yI sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
for you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unceasing,
^zmy wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me ^aalike a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
^ab“If you return, I will restore you,
and you shall ^acstand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
but you shall not turn to them.
20 ^adAnd I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
^aebut they shall not prevail over you,
^affor I am with you
to save you and deliver you,

declares the Lord.
21 ^agI will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of ^ahthe ruthless.”

Jeremiah 20:7-18

7 O Lord, ^aiyou have deceived me,
and I was deceived;
^ajyou are stronger than I,
and you have prevailed.
^akI have become a laughingstock all the day;
everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, ^al“Violence and destruction!”
For ^amthe word of the Lord has become for me
^ana reproach and ^aoderision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
^apthere is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and ^aqI am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
10 ^arFor I hear many whispering.
^asTerror is on every side!
“Denounce him! ^atLet us denounce him!”
say all my ^auclose friends,
^avwatching for ^awmy fall.
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then ^axwe can overcome him
and take our revenge on him.”
11 But ^aythe Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
^azthey will not overcome me.
^baThey will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their ^bbeternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
^bcwho sees the heart and the mind, ^{▼▼Hebrew kidneys}
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
13 ^beSing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.
14 ^bfCursed 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,”
^bgmaking him very glad.
16 Let that man be like ^bhthe cities
that the Lord overthrew without pity;
^bilet him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
17 ^bjbecause he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb forever great.
18 ^bkWhy did I come out from the womb
^blto see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?