CHAPTER 20
When Pashhur
the priest,
the son
of Immer
and the chief
official
in the temple
of the LORD,
heard
Jeremiah
prophesying
these
things,
he
had Jeremiah
the prophet
beaten,
and he put
him
in
the stocks
at the Upper
Gate
of Benjamin,
which was
by the house
of the LORD.
The next day,
when Pashhur
released
Jeremiah
from
the stocks,
Jeremiah
said
to him,
“The LORD
does not
call
you Pashhur,
but
Magor-missabib.
For
this is what
the LORD
says:
‘I will make you
a terror
to yourself
and to all
your friends.
They will fall
by the sword
of their enemies
before your very eyes.
And I will hand Judah
over to
the king
of Babylon,
and he will carry them away
to Babylon
and put
them to the sword.
I will give away
all
the wealth
of this
city—
all
its products
and valuables,
and
all
the treasures
of the kings
of Judah—
to
their enemies.
They will plunder them,
seize them,
and carry them off
to Babylon.
And you,
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 friends
to whom
you have prophesied
these
lies.'"
You have deceived me,
O LORD,
and I was deceived.
You have overcome me
and prevailed.
I am
a laughingstock
all
day long;
everyone
mocks
me.
For
whenever
I speak,
I cry out,
I proclaim
violence
and destruction.
For
the word
of the LORD
has become
to me
a reproach
and derision
all
day long.
If I say,
“I will not
mention Him
or speak
any more
in His name,”
His message becomes
a fire
burning
in my heart,
shut up
in my bones,
and I become weary
of holding it in,
and I cannot
prevail.
For
I have heard
the whispering
of many,
“Terror
is on every side!
Report him;
let us report him!”
All
my trusted friends
watch for
my fall:
“Perhaps
he will be deceived
so that we may prevail against him
and take
our vengeance upon him.”
But the LORD
is with me
like a fearsome
warrior.
Therefore,
my persecutors
will stumble
and not
prevail.
Since
they have not
succeeded,
they will be utterly
put to shame,
with an everlasting
disgrace
that will never
be forgotten.
O LORD
of Hosts,
who examines
the righteous,
who sees
the heart
and mind,
let me see
Your vengeance
upon them,
for
to You
I have committed
my cause.
Sing
to the LORD!
Praise
the LORD!
For
He rescues
the life
of the needy
from the hands
of evildoers.
Cursed be
the man
who
brought
my father the news,
saying,
“A son
is born
to you,”
bringing him great joy.
May
that man
be
like the cities
the LORD
overthrew
without
compassion.
May he hear
an outcry
in the morning
and a battle cry
at noon,
because
he did not
kill me
in the womb
so that my mother
might have been
my grave,
and her womb
forever
enlarged.