Jeremías 20

1 Jeremías y Pasur
Ahora bien, Pasur, hijo de Imer, el sacerdote encargado del templo del Señor
, oyó lo que Jeremías profetizaba.

2 Así que arrestó al profeta Jeremías, ordenó que lo azotaran y que lo pusieran en el cepo junto a la puerta de Benjamín, en el templo del Señor
.

3 Al día siguiente, cuando al fin Pasur lo puso en libertad, Jeremías dijo: «Pasur, el Señor
te ha cambiado el nombre. De ahora en adelante serás llamado: “El hombre que vive aterrorizado”
.

4 Pues esto dice el Señor
: “Enviaré terror sobre ti y todos tus amigos y verás cuando sean masacrados por las espadas del enemigo. Entregaré al pueblo de Judá en manos del rey de Babilonia. Él los llevará cautivos a Babilonia o los traspasará con la espada;

5 y dejaré que tus enemigos saqueen a Jerusalén. Todos los tesoros famosos de la ciudad —las joyas preciosas, el oro y la plata de tus reyes— serán llevados a Babilonia.

6 En cuanto a ti, Pasur, tú y todos los de tu casa irán cautivos a Babilonia. Allí morirán y serán enterrados, tú y todos tus amigos, a quienes profetizaste que todo iría bien”».

7 Queja de Jeremías
Oh Señor
, me engañaste,
y yo me dejé engañar.
Eres más fuerte que yo,
y me dominaste.
Ahora soy objeto de burla todos los días;
todos se ríen de mí.

8 Cuando hablo, me brotan las palabras.
Grito: «¡Violencia y destrucción!».
Así que estos mensajes del Señor
me han convertido en objeto de burla.

9 Sin embargo, si digo que nunca mencionaré al Señor
o que nunca más hablaré en su nombre,
su palabra arde en mi corazón como fuego.
¡Es como fuego en mis huesos!
¡Estoy agotado tratando de contenerla!
¡No puedo hacerlo!

10 He oído los muchos rumores acerca de mí.
Me llaman: «El hombre que vive aterrorizado».
Me amenazan diciendo: «Si dices algo te denunciaremos».
Aun mis viejos amigos me vigilan,
esperando que cometa algún error fatal.
«Caerá en su propia trampa —dicen—,
entonces nos vengaremos de él».

11 No obstante, el Señor
está a mi lado como un gran guerrero;
ante él mis perseguidores caerán.
No pueden derrotarme.
Fracasarán y serán totalmente humillados;
nunca se olvidará su deshonra.

12 Oh Señor
de los Ejércitos Celestiales,
tú pruebas a los justos
y examinas los secretos y los pensamientos más profundos.
Permíteme ver tu venganza contra ellos,
porque a ti he encomendado mi causa.

13 ¡Canten al Señor
!
¡Alaben al Señor
!
Pues al pobre y al necesitado
los ha rescatado de sus opresores.

14 ¡Sin embargo, maldigo el día en que nací!
Que nadie celebre el día de mi nacimiento.

15 Maldigo al mensajero que le dijo a mi padre:
«¡Buenas noticias! ¡Es un varón!».

16 Que lo destruyan como a las ciudades de la antigüedad
que el Señor
derribó sin misericordia.
Asústenlo todo el día con gritos de batalla,

17 porque no me mató al nacer.
¡Oh, si tan solo hubiera muerto en el vientre de mi madre,
si su cuerpo hubiera sido mi tumba!

18 ¿Por qué habré nacido?
Mi vida entera se ha llenado
de dificultades, de dolor y de vergüenza.

Jeremías 20 Commentary

Chapter 20

The doom of Pashur, who ill-treated the prophet. (1-6) Jeremiah complains of hard usage. (7-13) He regrets his ever having been born. (14-18)

Verses 1-6 Pashur smote Jeremiah, and put him in the stocks. Jeremiah was silent till God put a word into his mouth. To confirm this, Pashur has a name given him, "Fear on every side." It speaks a man not only in distress, but in despair; not only in danger, but in fear on every side. The wicked are in great fear where no fear is, for God can make the most daring sinner a terror to himself. And those who will not hear of their faults from God's prophets, shall be made to hear them from their consciences. Miserable is the man thus made a terror to himself. His friends shall fail him. God lets him live miserably, that he may be a monument of Divine justice.

Verses 7-13 The prophet complains of the insult and injury he experienced. But ver. ( 7 ) may be read, Thou hast persuaded me, and I was persuaded. Thou wast stronger than I; and didst overpower me by the influence of thy Spirit upon me. So long as we see ourselves in the way of God, and of duty, it is weakness and folly, when we meet with difficulties and discouragements, to wish we had never set out in it. The prophet found the grace of God mighty in him to keep him to his business, notwithstanding the temptation he was in to throw it up. Whatever injuries are done to us, we must leave them to that God to whom vengeance belongs, and who has said, I will repay. So full was he of the comfort of God's presence, the Divine protection he was under, and the Divine promise he had to depend upon, that he stirred up himself and others to give God the glory. Let the people of God open their cause before Him, and he will enable them to see deliverance.

Verses 14-18 When grace has the victory, it is good to be ashamed of our folly, to admire the goodness of God, and be warned to guard our spirits another time. See how strong the temptation was, over which the prophet got the victory by Divine assistance! He is angry that his first breath was not his last. While we remember that these wishes are not recorded for us to utter the like, we may learn good lessons from them. See how much those who think they stand, ought to take heed lest they fall, and to pray daily, Lead us not into temptation. How frail, changeable, and sinful is man! How foolish and unnatural are the thoughts and wishes of our hearts, when we yield to discontent! Let us consider Him who endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, lest we should be at any time weary and faint in our minds under our lesser trials.

Chapter Summary

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.