Jeremia 20 | New International Reader’s Version

Jeremiah and Pashhur

1 Pashhur the priest was the official in charge of the LORD’s temple. He was the son of Immer. Pashhur heard Jeremiah prophesying that Jerusalem would be destroyed. 2 So he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten. Then Pashhur put him in prison at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD’s temple. 3 The next day Pashhur set him free. Jeremiah said to him, ‘The LORD’s name for you isn’t Pashhur. The LORD’s name for you is Terror on Every Side. 4 The LORD says to you, “I will make you a terror to yourself. You will also be a terror to all your friends. With your own eyes you will see them die. Their enemies will kill them with swords. I will hand over all the people of Judah to the king of Babylon. He will carry them away to Babylon or kill them with swords. 5 I will hand over all the wealth of this city to Judah’s enemies. I will give them all its products and everything of value. I will turn over to them all the treasures that belonged to the kings of Judah. They will take these things and carry them off to Babylon. 6 Pashhur, you and everyone who lives in your house will also be forced to go there. You have prophesied lies to all your friends. So all of you will die and be buried in Babylon.” ’

Jeremiah complains to the Lord

7 You tricked me, LORD, and I was tricked. You overpowered me and won. People make fun of me all day long. Everyone laughs at me. 8 Every time I speak, I cry out. All you ever tell me to talk about is fighting and trouble. Your message has brought me nothing but dishonour. It has made me suffer shame all day long. 9 Sometimes I think, ‘I won’t talk about his message anymore. I’ll never speak in his name again.’ But then your message burns in my heart. It’s like a fire deep inside my bones. I’m tired of holding it in. In fact, I can’t. 10 I hear many people whispering, ‘There is terror on every side! Bring charges against Jeremiah! Let’s bring charges against him!’ All my friends are waiting for me to slip. They are saying, ‘Perhaps he will be tricked into making a mistake. Then we’ll win out over him. We’ll get even with him.’ 11 But you are with me like a mighty warrior. So those who are trying to harm me will trip and fall. They won’t win out over me. They will fail. They’ll be totally put to shame. Their dishonour will never be forgotten. 12 LORD, you rule over all. You test those who do what is right. You see what is in people’s hearts and minds. So pay them back for what they’ve done. I’ve committed my cause to you. 13 Sing to the LORD, you people! Give praise to him! He saves the lives of people in need. He saves them from the power of sinful people. 14 May the day I was born be cursed! May the day I was born to my mother not be blessed! 15 May the man who brought my father the news be cursed! He’s the one who made my father very glad. He said, ‘You have had a baby! It’s a boy!’ 16 May that man be like the towns the LORD destroyed without pity. May that man hear loud weeping in the morning. May he hear a battle cry at noon. 17 He should have killed me in my mother’s body. He should have made my mother my grave. He should have let her body stay large for ever. 18 Why did I ever come out of my mother’s body? I’ve seen nothing but trouble and sorrow. My days will end in shame.

English Standard Version

Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur

1 Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you 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, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its 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, 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, to whom you have prophesied falsely.” 7 O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. 8 For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. 9 If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. 10 For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” say all my close friends, watching for my fall. “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.” 11 But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. 12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind,* let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause. 13 Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers. 14 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,” making him very glad. 16 Let that man be like the cities that the Lord overthrew without pity; let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm at noon, 17 because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great. 18 Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?

Jeremia 20 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

Jeremiah and Pashhur

Jeremiah complains to the Lord

Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur