Jeremiah 18:20

20 Whether evil is yielded for good, for they have digged a pit to my soul; have thou mind, that I stood in thy sight, to speak good for them, and to turn away thine indignation from them. (Shall evil be yielded for good, for they have dug a pit for me; remember, O Lord, that I stood in thy sight, to speak good of them, and to turn away thy indignation from them.)

Jeremiah 18:20 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 18:20

Shall evil be recompensed for good?
&c.] For all the good that I have done them, shall this be all the recompence I shall have, to be evilly treated by them, to have my good name, and even life, taken away by them? shall this be suffered to be done? and, if it is, shall it go unpunished? the prophet taxes the people with ingratitude, which he afterwards instances in, and proves: for they have digged a pit for my soul;
or "life"; they lay in wait to take it away; or they had formed a design against it, and brought a charge and accusation against him, in order to take it away, under colour of law and justice. Kimchi interprets it of poison, which they would have had him drank of: remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, [and] to
turn away thy wrath from them;
he was an intercessor for them with God; pleaded with him on their behalf, that good things might be bestowed upon them, and that wrath might be averted from them; so Christ did for the Jews that crucified him, ( Luke 23:34 ) ; this is an instance of their ingratitude; that though he had been an advocate for them, stood in the gap between God and them, and was importunate for their good, yet this was all the recompense he had from them; they sought his life to take it away. This kindness of his for them was forgotten by them; but he trusts the Lord will remember it, and not suffer them to act the base part they intended; and now he determines no more to plead their cause, but to imprecate evils upon them, as follows:

Jeremiah 18:20 In-Context

18 And they said, Come ye, and think we thoughts against Jeremy; for why the law shall not perish from a priest, neither counsel shall perish from a wise man, neither word shall perish from a prophet (for the Law shall never perish from, or be lost to, a priest, nor good advice from a wise man, nor God's word from a prophet); come ye, and smite we him with (the) tongue, and take we none heed to all the words of him.

19 Lord, give thou attention to me, and hear thou the voice of mine adversaries.

20 Whether evil is yielded for good, for they have digged a pit to my soul; have thou mind, that I stood in thy sight, to speak good for them, and to turn away thine indignation from them. (Shall evil be yielded for good, for they have dug a pit for me; remember, O Lord, that I stood in thy sight, to speak good of them, and to turn away thy indignation from them.)

21 Therefore give thou the sons of them into hunger, and lead forth them into the hands of [the] sword; the wives of them be made without children, and be made widows, and the husbands of them be slain by death; the young men of them be pierced together by sword in battle. (And so give thou their sons into hunger, and lead them forth into the hands of the sword; let their wives be made without children, and be made widows, and let their husbands be killed; and let their young men be altogether pierced by the sword in battle.)

22 Cry be heard of the houses of them, for thou shalt bring suddenly a thief on them; for they digged a pit to take me, and hid snares to my feet. (Let a cry be heard from their houses, for thou shalt suddenly bring a thief upon them; for they dug a pit to catch me, and hid snares for my feet.)