20:1  When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who served as chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,

20:2  Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks that stood at the upper Benjamin Gate, which stood by the house of the LORD.

20:3  On the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, " The LORD has not called you, but rather Magor-missabib.

20:4  "For thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I intend to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies So I will give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away as exiles to Babylon and will slay them with the sword.

20:5  'I will also give over all the wealth of this city, all its produce and all its costly things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give over to the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away and bring them to Babylon.

20:6  'And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die and there people will bury you , you and all your friends to whom you have falsely prophesied.'"

20:7  O LORD, You have deceived me and I became deceived; You have overcome me and prevailed I have become a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me.

20:8  For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the word of the LORD has resulted In reproach and derision all day long.

20:9  But if I say, "I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name," Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I feel weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it.

20:10  For I have heard the whispering of many, " Terror on every side! Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!" All my trusted friends, Watching for my fall, say:"Perhaps he will fall into deception, so that we may prevail against him And take our revenge on him."

20:11  But the LORD stays with me like a dread champion; Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail They will feel utterly ashamed, because they have failed, With an everlasting disgrace that people will not forget.

20:12  Yet, O LORD of hosts, You who test the righteous, Who see the mind and the heart; Let me see Your vengeance on them; For to You I have set forth my cause.

20:13   Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD! For He has delivered the soul of the needy one From the hand of evildoers.

20:14  Cursed I consider the day when my birth occurred; Let the day not receive blessing when my mother bore me!

20:15  I curse the man who brought the news To my father, saying, " You have a new baby boy born to you !" And made him very happy.

20:16  But let that man resemble the cities Which the LORD overthrew without relenting, And let him hear an outcry in the morning And a shout of alarm at noon;

20:17  Because he did not kill me before birth, So that my mother would have become my grave, And her womb ever pregnant.

20:18  Why did I ever come forth from the womb To look on trouble and sorrow, So that I have spent my days in shame?