Jeremiah Beaten by Pashhur

1Pashhur the priest,a the son of Immerb and chief official in the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2So Pashhur had the prophet Jeremiah beaten and put him in the stocksa at the Upper Benjamin Gateb in the Lord’s temple. 3The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call you Pashhur, but Terror Is on Every Side,A 4for this is what the Lord says, ‘I am about to make you a terror to both yourself and those you love.a They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes.b I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will deport them to Babylon and put them to the sword. 5I will give away all the wealtha of this city, all its productsb and valuables. Indeed, I will hand all the treasures of the kings of Judah over to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.c 6As for you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, you will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon.a There you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you prophesied lies.’ ”b

Jeremiah Compelled to Preach

7You deceiveda me, Lord, and I was deceived.

You seized me and prevailed.

I am a laughingstock all the time;b

everyone ridicules me.

8For whenever I speak, I cry out,

I proclaim, “Violence and destruction! ”a

so the word of the Lord has become my

constant disgrace and derision.

9I say, “I won’t mention him

or speak any longer in his name.”a

But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart,b

shut up in my bones.

I become tired of holding it in,c

and I cannot prevail.

10For I have heard the gossip of many people,

“Terror is on every side!a

Report him; let’s report him! ”

Everyone I trustedA watches for my fall.b

“Perhaps he will be deceived

so that we might prevail against him

and take our vengeance on him.”

11But the Lord is with me like a violent warrior.a

Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.

Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed,

an everlasting humiliation that will never be forgotten.b

12Lord of Armies, testing the righteous

and seeing the heartA and mind,

let me see your vengeance on them,

for I have presented my case to you.a

13Sing to the Lord!

Praise the Lord,

for he rescues the life of the needy

from evil people.

Jeremiah’s Lament

14May the day I was born

be cursed.a

May the day my mother bore me

never be blessed.

15May the man be cursed

who brought the news to my father, saying,

“A male child is born to you,”

bringing him great joy.

16Let that man be like the cities

the Lord demolished without compassion.a

Let him hear an outcry in the morningb

and a war cry at noontime

17because he didn’t kill me in the womba

so that my mother might have been my grave,

her womb eternally pregnant.

18Why did I come out of the womb

to see only struggle and sorrow,a

to end my life in shame?