the Second Week after Easter
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New Living Translation
Jeremiah 20:14
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- InternationalParallel Translations
May the day I was bornbe cursed.May the day my mother bore menever be blessed.
Cursed be the day in which I was born: don't let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.
Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed!
Cursed be the day when I was born; May the day when my mother gave birth to me not be blessed!
Let there be a curse on the day I was born; let there be no blessing on the day when my mother gave birth to me.
Cursed be the day on which I was born; Do not bless the day on which my mother gave birth to me!
Cursed be the day in which I was born: don't let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.
Cursed be the day wherein I was borne: and let not the day wherein my mother bare me, be blessed.
Cursed be the day when I was born;Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me!
Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.
Put a curse on the day I was born! Don't bless my mother.
A curse on the day I was born! The day my mother gave birth to me — let it not be blessed!
Cursed be the day wherein I was born; let not the day wherein my mother bore me be blessed!
Curse the day that I was born! Don't bless the day my mother had me.
Cursed be the day on which I was born; let not the day on which my mother bore me be blessed.
Curse the day I was born! Forget the day my mother gave me birth!
Cursed be the day on which I was born, let not the day on which my mother gave birth to me be blessed.
Cursed is the day in which I was born; let not the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.
Cursed be the daye, wherein I was borne: vnhappie be ye daye, where in my mother brought me forth.
Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
A curse on the day of my birth: let there be no blessing on the day when my mother had me.
Cursed be the day wherein I was born; the day wherein my mother bore me, let it not be blessed.
Cursed be the day wherein I was borne: let not the day wherein my mother bare mee, be blessed.
Cursed be the day wherein I was borne, vnhappy be the day wherein my mother brought me foorth.
Cursed be the day wherein I was born: the day wherein my mother brought me forth, let it not be blessed.
Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
Cursid be the dai where ynne Y was borun, the dai where ynne my modir childide me, be not blessid.
Cursed be the day wherein I was born: don't let the day wherein my mother bore me be blessed.
Cursed [be] the day in which I was born: let not the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.
Cursed be the day I was born! May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me.
Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
Cursed is the day when I was born! Let the day not be honored when my mother gave birth to me!
Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed!
Accursed, be the day on which I was born, - The day when my mother bare me, let it not be blessed!
Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day in which my mother bore me, be blessed.
Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed!
Cursed [is] the day in which I was born, The day that my mother bare me, Let it not be blessed!
Curse the day I was born! The day my mother bore me— a curse on it, I say! And curse the man who delivered the news to my father: "You've got a new baby—a boy baby!" (How happy it made him.) Let that birth notice be blacked out, deleted from the records, And the man who brought it haunted to his death with the bad news he brought. He should have killed me before I was born, with that womb as my tomb, My mother pregnant for the rest of her life with a baby dead in her womb. Why, oh why, did I ever leave that womb? Life's been nothing but trouble and tears, and what's coming is more of the same.
Cursed be the day when I was born; Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me!
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Jeremiah 15:10, Job 3:3-16
Reciprocal: Genesis 30:1 - or else I die Exodus 16:3 - we had Numbers 11:11 - Wherefore hast thou 2 Samuel 1:21 - no dew 1 Kings 19:4 - he requested Job 3:1 - cursed Job 10:18 - hast thou Psalms 37:8 - fret Ecclesiastes 2:17 - I hated Jeremiah 8:3 - death Lamentations 3:1 - the man Lamentations 3:17 - I forgat Ezekiel 3:14 - General Jonah 4:3 - take
Cross-References
Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
Abraham introduced his wife, Sarah, by saying, "She is my sister." So King Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace.
Now return the woman to her husband, and he will pray for you, for he is a prophet. Then you will live. But if you don't return her to him, you can be sure that you and all your people will die."
Abraham replied, "I thought, ‘This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.'
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Cursed [be] the day wherein I was born,.... If this was said immediately upon the foregoing, it was a most strange and sudden change of frame indeed that the prophet came into, from praising God, to cursing the day of his birth; wherefore some have thought it was delivered at another time, when in great anguish of spirit; very likely when so ill used by Pashur, as before related; but here repeated, to show in what distress he had been, and what reason there was for praise and thanksgiving; for the words may be connected with the preceding, thus, "for he hath delivered from the hand of evil doers the soul of the poor, who said" l, in the time of his distress, "cursed be the day", c but, whenever it was spoke, it showed the impatience of the prophet, the weakness of his faith, and the greatness of his folly, to curse a day, and his birth day too, as Job did, when under affliction, Job 3:1;
let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed; to myself or others; let it be reckoned among the unhappy and unfortunate days; let it not be blessed with the light of the sun, or with the light of joy and prosperity; see Job 3:4; let it not be said on this occasion, as commonly is, we wish you joy on your birth day, and may you see many happy days of this kind. Abendana observes, that some of their Rabbins say, that Jeremiah cursed the day of his birth, because it was the ninth of Ab, the day on which the temple was burnt.
l So it is supplied by Grotius and Schmidt.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
In the rest of the chapter we have an outbreak of deep emotion, of which the first part ends in a cry of hope Jeremiah 20:13, followed nevertheless by curses upon the day of his birth. Was this the result of feelings wounded by the indignities of a public scourging and a night spent in the stocks? Or was it not the mental agony of knowing that his ministry had (as it seemed) failed? He stands indeed before the multitudes with unbending strength, warning prince and people with unwavering constancy of the national ruin that would follow necessarily upon their sins. Before God he stood crushed by the thought that he had labored in vain, and spent his strength for nothing.
It is important to notice that with this outpouring of sorrow Jeremiah’s ministry virtually closed. Though he appeared again at Jerusalem toward the end of Jehoiakim’s reign, yet it was no longer to say that by repentance the national ruin might be averted. During the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the die was cast, and all the prophet henceforward could do, was to alleviate a punishment that was inevitable.
Jeremiah 20:7
Thou hast deceived me ... - What Jeremiah refers to is the joy with which he had accepted the prophetic office Jeremiah 15:16, occasioned perhaps by taking the promises in Jeremiah 1:18 too literally as a pledge that he would succeed.
Thou art stronger than I - Rather, “Thou hast taken hold of me.” God had taken Jeremiah in so firm a grasp that he could not escape from the necessity of prophesying. He would have resisted, but the hand of God prevailed.
I am in derision daily - literally, “I am become a laughing-stock all the day, i. e., peripetually.
Jeremiah 20:8
Translate,” For as often as I speak, I must complain; I call out, Violence and spoil.”
From the time Jeremiah began to prophesy, he had had reason for nothing but lamentation. Daily with louder voice and more desperate energy he must call out “violence and spoil;” as a perpetual protest against the manner in which the laws of justice were violated by powerful men among the people.
Jeremiah 20:9
Seeing that his mission was useless, Jeremiah determined to withdraw from it.
I could not stay - Rather, “I prevailed not,” did not succeed. See Jeremiah 20:7.
Jeremiah 20:10
The defaming - Rather, “the talking.” The word refers to people whispering in twos and threes apart; in this case plotting against Jeremiah. Compare Mark 14:58.
Report ... - Rather, “Do you report, and we will report him: i. e., they encourage one another to give information against Jeremiah.
My familiars - literally, “the men of my peace” Psalms 41:9. In the East the usual salutation is “Peace be to thee:” and the answer, “And to thee peace.” Thus, the phrase rather means acquaintances, than familiar friends.
Enticed - literally, “persuaded, misled,” the same word as “deceived Jeremiah 20:7.” Compare Mark 12:13-17.
Jeremiah 20:11
A mighty terrible one - Rather, “a terrible warrior.” The mighty One Isaiah 9:6 who is on his side is a terror to them. This change of feeling was the effect of faith, enabling him to be content with calmly doing his duty, and leaving the result to God.
For ... - Rather, “because they have not acted wisely (Jeremiah 10:21 note), with an everlasting disgrace that shall never be forgotten.”
Jeremiah 20:12
This verse is repeated almost verbatim from Jeremiah 11:20.
Jeremiah 20:13
Sing - Jeremiah’s outward circumstances remained the same, but he found peace in leaving his cause in faith to God.
Jeremiah 20:14
This sudden outbreak of impatience after the happy faith of Jeremiah 20:13 has led to much discussion. Possibly there was more of sorrow in the words than of impatience; sorrow that the earnest labor of a life had been in vain. Yet the form of the expression is fierce and indignant; and the impatience of Jeremiah is that part of his character which is most open to blame. He does not reach that elevation which is set before us by Him who is the perfect pattern of all righteousness. Our Lord was a prophet whose mission to the men of His generation equally failed, and His sorrow was even more deep; but it never broke forth in imprecations. See Luke 19:41-42.
Jeremiah 20:16
The cry - is the sound of the lamentation Jeremiah 20:8; “the shouting” is the alarm of war.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Jeremiah 20:14. Cursed be the day wherein I was born — If we take these words literally, and suppose them to be in their proper place, they are utterly inconsistent with that state of confidence in which he exulted a few minutes before. If they are the language of Jeremiah, they must have been spoken on a prior occasion, when probably he had given way to a passionate hastiness. They might well comport with the state he was in Jeremiah 20:9. I really believe these verses have got out of their proper place, which I conjecture to be between the eighth and ninth verses. There they will come in very properly; and might have been a part of his complaint in those moments when he had purposed to flee from God as did Jonah, and prophesy no more in his name. Transpositions in this prophet are frequent; therefore place these five verses after the eighth, and let the chapter end with the thirteenth, and the whole will form a piece of exquisite poetry, where the state of despair, and the hasty resolutions he had formed while under its influence, and the state of confidence to which he was raised by the succouring influence of God, will appear to be both illustrative of each other, and are touched with a delicacy and fervour which even a cold heart must admire. See Job 3:3, and the notes there. The two passages are very similar.
