1Pashhur 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.2So he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten. Then Pashhur put him in prison at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD’s temple.3The 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.4The 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.5I 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.6Pashhur, 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
7You tricked me, LORD, and I was tricked. You overpowered me and won. People make fun of me all day long. Everyone laughs at me.8Every 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.9Sometimes 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.10I 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.’11But 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.12LORD, 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.13Sing 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.14May the day I was born be cursed! May the day I was born to my mother not be blessed!15May 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!’16May 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.17He 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.18Why did I ever come out of my mother’s body? I’ve seen nothing but trouble and sorrow. My days will end in shame.
Jeremiah 20
English Standard Version
Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur
1Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. (1Ch 9:12; 1Ch 24:14; Ezr 2:37; Ezr 2:38; Jer 21:1; Jer 29:26; Jer 38:1)2Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. (Jer 20:1; Jer 29:26; Jer 37:13; Ac 16:24)3The 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. (Jer 20:1)4For 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. (Jer 6:25)5Moreover, 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. (2Ki 20:17; 2Ki 24:12; 2Ki 25:13; Job 28:10; Eze 22:25)6And 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.” (1Ch 9:12; Ezr 2:38; Jer 14:14; Jer 21:1; Jer 38:1)7O 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. (Ps 119:51; La 3:14; Eze 14:9; 2Pe 1:21)8For 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. (Ps 44:13; Ps 79:4; Jer 6:7; Jer 6:10)9If 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. (Job 32:18; Ps 39:3; Jer 6:11)10For 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.” (Ps 31:13; Ps 35:15; Ps 41:9; Ps 55:13; Ps 56:6; Jer 1:19; Jer 5:22; Jer 6:25; Jer 9:4; Jer 36:16; Jer 36:20; Jer 38:22)11But 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. (Jer 1:8; Jer 17:18; Jer 23:40)12O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind,[1] let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause. (Jer 11:20)13Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers. (Ps 35:9; Ps 109:30)14Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed! (Job 3:3; Jer 15:10)15Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, “A son is born to you,” making him very glad. (Joh 16:21)16Let 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, (Ge 19:25; Isa 13:19; Jer 18:22)17because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great. (Job 3:10)18Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame? (Job 3:20; La 3:1)