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Pashhur Persecutes Jeremiah

¹ Now Pashhur the son of ^(C1)Immer, the priest, who was also ^(C2)chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.² Then Pashhur ^(C1)beat Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the ^(C2)stocks that were at the upper ^(C3)Benjamin Gate by the house of the LORD. ^(VR1)3 And the next day Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, "The LORD does not ^(C1)call your name Pashhur, but ^(C2)Magor-missabib (terror on every side).⁴ "For thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will make you a ^(C1)terror to yourself and to all your friends; they will fall by the sword of their enemies while ^(C2)you look on. And I will ^(C3)give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he will carry them away to Babylon as ^(C4)captives and will slaughter them with the sword.⁵ 'Moreover, I will hand over all the ^(C1)riches of this city, all the result of its labor, all its precious things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will ^(C2)hand over to their enemies, and they will plunder them, and take them away and carry them to Babylon.⁶ 'And you, ^(C1)Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; you will go to Babylon, and there you will die and be buried, you and all your ^(C2)friends to whom you have falsely ^(C3)prophesied.'"

Jeremiah's Complaint

⁷ Jeremiah said, O LORD, You have persuaded me and I was deceived;
You are ^(C1)stronger than I and You have prevailed.
I am a ^(C2)laughingstock all day long;
Everyone ^(C3)mocks me.

⁸ For whenever I speak, I must shout out;
I ^(C1)shout violence and destruction,
Because the ^(C2)word of the LORD has become to me
A reprimand and a mockery and has brought me insult all day long.

⁹ If I say, "I will not ^(C1)remember Him
Or speak His name anymore,"
Then ^(C2)my heart becomes a burning fire
Shut up in my bones.
And ^(C3)I am weary of enduring and holding it in;
I cannot endure it nor contain it any longer.

¹⁰ For ^(C1)I have heard the whispering and defaming words of many,
"^(C2)Terror on every side!
^(C3)Denounce him! Let us denounce him!"
All my ^(C4)familiar and trusted friends,
Those who are watching for my fall, say,
"Perhaps he will be persuaded and deceived; then we will ^(C5)overcome him,
And take our revenge on him."

¹¹ But the ^(C1)LORD is with me as a dread champion one to be greatly feared;
Therefore my ^(C2)persecutors will stumble and not overcome me.
They will be completely shamed, for they have not acted wisely and have failed in their schemes;
Their ^(C3)eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.

¹² But, O LORD of hosts, You who ^(C1)examine the righteous,
Who see the heart and the mind,
Let me ^(C2)see Your vengeance on them;
For ^(C3)to You I have committed my cause.

^13 (C1)Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD!
For He has ^(C2)rescued the life of the needy one
From the hand of evildoers.

¹⁴ Cursed be the ^(C1)day on which I was born;
Do not bless the day on which my mother gave birth to me!

¹⁵ Cursed be the man who brought the news
To my father, saying,
"A ^(C1)son has been born to you!"
Making him very glad.

¹⁶ And let that man be like the cities
Which the LORD ^(C1)overthrew without regret.
Let him hear an ^(C2)outcry in the morning
And a shout of alarm at noon;

¹⁷ Because he did not ^(C1)kill me before my birth,
So that my mother might have been my grave,
And her womb always pregnant.

¹⁸ Why did I come out of the womb
To ^(C1)see trouble and sorrow,
So that my ^(C2)days have been filled with ^(C3)shame?