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Jeremiah 20

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1 Now Pashhur the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.

2 Then Pashhur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of the LORD.

3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him: ‘The LORD hath not called thy name Pashhur, but Magormissabib.

4 For thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.

5 Moreover I will give all the store of this city, and all the gains thereof, and all the wealth thereof, yea, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, who shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.

6 And thou, Pashhur, and all that dwell in thy house shall go into captivity; and thou

7 O LORD, Thou hast enticed me, and I was enticed, Thou hast overcome me, and hast prevailed; I am become a laughing-stock all the day, Every one mocketh me.

8 For as often as I speak, I cry out, I cry: ‘Violence and spoil’; Because the word of the LORD is made A reproach unto me, and a derision, all the day.

9 And if I say: ‘I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak any more in His name’, Then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire Shut up in my bones, And I weary myself to hold it in, But cannot.

10 For I have heard the whispering of many, Terror on every side: ‘Denounce, and we will denounce him’; Even of all my familiar friends, Them that watch for my halting: ‘Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, And we shall take our revenge on him.’

11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty warrior; Therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; They shall be greatly ashamed, because they have not prospered, Even with an everlasting confusion which shall never be forgotten.

12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, That seest the reins and the heart, Let me see Thy vengeance on them; For unto Thee have I revealed my cause.

13 Sing unto the LORD, Praise ye the LORD; For He hath delivered the soul of the needy From the hand of evil-doers.

14 Cursed be the day Wherein I was born; The day wherein my mother bore me, Let it not be blessed.

15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings To my father, saying: ‘A man-child is born unto thee’; Making him very glad.

16 And let that man be as the cities Which the LORD overthrew, and repented not; And let him hear a cry in the morning, And an alarm at noontide;

17 Because He slew me not from the womb; And so my mother would have been my grave, And her womb always great.

18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb To see labour and sorrow, That my days should be consumed in shame?