Jeremiah 20:7-18

Jeremiah's Complaint

7 O LORD, You have deceived me and I was deceived; You have 1overcome me and prevailed. I have become a 2laughingstock all day long; Everyone 3mocks me.
8 For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I 4proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the 5word of the LORD has resulted In reproach and derision all day long.
9 But if I say, "I will not 6remember Him Or speak anymore in His name," Then in 7my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And 8I cannot endure it.
10 For 9I have heard the whispering of many, "10Terror on every side! 11Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!" All my 12trusted friends *, Watching for my fall, say: "Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may 13prevail against him And take our revenge on him."
11 But the 14LORD is with me like a dread champion; Therefore * my 15persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed, With an 16everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.
12 Yet, O LORD of hosts, You who 17test the righteous, Who see the mind and the heart; Let me 18see Your vengeance on them; For 19to You I have set forth my cause.
13 20Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD! For He has 21delivered the soul of the needy one From the hand of evildoers.
14 Cursed be the 22day when I was born; Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news To my father, saying, "A 23baby boy has been born to you!" And made him very happy.
16 But let that man be like the cities Which the LORD 24overthrew without relenting, And let him hear an 25outcry in the morning And a shout of alarm at noon;
17 Because he did not 26kill me before birth, So that my mother would have been my grave, And her womb ever pregnant.
18 Why did I ever come forth from the womb To 27look on trouble and sorrow, So that my 28days have been spent in 29shame?

Jeremiah 20:7-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 20

This chapter gives an account of the usage that Jeremiah met with from many for his prophecies, and the effect it had upon him. He was smitten and put in the stocks by Pashur the priest, who released him the next day, Jer 20:1-3; upon which he prophesies again of the delivery of the city of Jerusalem, with all its riches, and of the whole land, to the Chaldeans; and particularly that Pashur should be a terror to himself and all his friends; and that both he and they should be carried captive into Babylon, and die, and be buried there, Jer 20:4-6; and then he complains of his being mocked at by the people for the word of the Lord; which he therefore determined to make no more mention of, but was obliged to it; and of the defamations of him, and snares that were laid for him, Jer 20:7-10; under which he is supported with the consideration of the Lord's being with him, and that his enemies should not prevail, but be confounded; and appeals to him, and calls for vengeance from him on them; and, in the view of deliverance, not only praises the Lord himself, but calls upon others to join with him in it, Jer 20:11-13; and yet, after all, the chapter is concluded with his cursing the day of his birth, and the man that brought his father the news of it, Jer 20:14-18.

Cross References 29

  • 1. Ezekiel 3:14
  • 2. Job 12:4; Lamentations 3:14
  • 3. Psalms 22:7; Jeremiah 38:19
  • 4. Jeremiah 6:7
  • 5. 2 Chronicles 36:16; Jeremiah 6:10
  • 6. 1 Kings 19:3, 4; Jonah 1:2, 3
  • 7. Job 32:18-20; Psalms 39:3; Jeremiah 4:19; Jeremiah 23:9; Ezekiel 3:14; Acts 4:20
  • 8. Job 32:18-20
  • 9. Psalms 31:13
  • 10. Jeremiah 6:25
  • 11. Nehemiah 6:6-13; Isaiah 29:21; Jeremiah 18:18
  • 12. Psalms 41:9
  • 13. 1 Kings 19:2
  • 14. Jeremiah 1:8; Jeremiah 15:20; Romans 8:31
  • 15. Deuteronomy 32:35, 36; Jeremiah 15:15, 20; Jeremiah 17:18
  • 16. Jeremiah 23:40
  • 17. Psalms 7:9; Psalms 11:5; Psalms 17:3; Psalms 139:23; Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 17:10
  • 18. Psalms 54:7; Psalms 59:10; Jeremiah 11:20
  • 19. Psalms 62:8
  • 20. Jeremiah 31:7
  • 21. Psalms 34:6; Psalms 69:33; Jeremiah 15:21
  • 22. Job 3:3-6; Jeremiah 15:10
  • 23. Genesis 21:6, 7
  • 24. Genesis 19:25
  • 25. Jeremiah 18:22; Jeremiah 48:3, 4
  • 26. Job 3:10, 11, 16; Job 10:18, 19
  • 27. Job 3:20; Job 5:7; Job 14:1; Jeremiah 15:10; Lamentations 3:1
  • 28. Psalms 90:9; Psalms 102:3
  • 29. Psalms 69:19; Jeremiah 3:25; 1 Corinthians 4:9-13

Footnotes 9

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