Jeremiah 20

Jeremiah and Pashhur

1 The priest Pashhur was chief officer in the LORD's temple. He was the son of Immer. Pashhur heard me prophesying that Jerusalem would be destroyed.

2 So he had me beaten. Then he put me in prison at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD's temple.

3 The next day Pashhur set me free. I said to him, "The LORD's name for you isn't Pashhur. It's Magor-Missabib. That name means Terror on Every Side.

4 "The LORD says to you, 'I will make you a terror to yourself. You will also be a terror to all of your friends. With your own eyes you will see them die. Their enemies will kill them with swords. I will hand all of the people of Judah over to the king of Babylonia. He will carry them away to Babylonia or kill them with swords.

5 " 'I will hand all of the wealth of this city over to Judah's enemies. I will give them all of its products and everything of value. I will turn over to them all of the treasures that belonged to the kings of Judah. They will take those things and carry them off to Babylon.

6 " 'Pashhur, you and everyone who lives in your house will also be forced to go there. You have prophesied lies to all of your friends. So all of you will die in Babylonia. And that's where your bodies will be buried.' "

Jeremiah Argues With the LORD

7 Lord, you tricked me, and I was tricked. You overpowered me and won. People make fun of me all day long. Everyone laughs at me.

8 Every time I speak, I cry out. All you ever tell me to talk about is fighting and trouble. Your message has brought me nothing but dishonor. It has made me suffer shame all day long.

9 Sometimes I think, "I won't talk about him anymore. I'll never speak in his name again." But then your message burns in my heart. It's like a fire inside my very bones. I'm tired of holding it in. In fact, I can't.

10 I hear many people whispering, "There is terror on every side! Report Jeremiah! Let's report him to the authorities!" All of my friends are waiting for me to slip. They are saying, "Perhaps he will be tricked into making a mistake. Then we'll win out over him. We'll get even with him."

11 But you are with me like a mighty warrior. So those who are trying to harm me will trip and fall. They won't win out over me. They will fail. They'll be totally put to shame. Their dishonor will never be forgotten.

12 Lord, you rule over all. You test those who do what is right. You see what is in people's hearts and minds. So pay them back for what they've done. I've committed my cause to you.

13 Sing to the Lord, you people! Give praise to him! He saves the lives of those who are in need. He saves them from the powerful hands of sinful people.

14 May the day I was born be under a curse! May the day I was born to my mother not be blessed!

15 May the man who brought my father the news be under a curse! He's the one who made my father very glad. He said, "You have had a baby! It's a boy!"

16 May that man be like the towns the LORD destroyed without pity. May that man hear loud sobs in the morning. May he hear a battle cry at noon.

17 He should have killed me in my mother's body. He should have made my mother my grave. He should have let her body stay large forever.

18 Why did I ever come out of my mother's body? I've seen nothing but trouble and sorrow. My days will end in shame.

Jeremiah 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.