Pashhur Persecutes Jeremiah
1 Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of the Lord.
3 It happened on the next day, that Pashhur brought Jeremiah forth, out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord has not called your name Pashhur, but Magormissabib. 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies. Your eyes will see it, and I will give all of Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them captive to Babylon and will kill them with the sword.
5 Moreover I will give all the riches of this city and all its gains and all the precious things within it, yes, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, and they shall make them a prey and take them and carry them to Babylon.
6 You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house will go into captivity, and you will come to Babylon, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.'”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
7 Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived.
You are stronger than I, and have prevailed.
I have become a laughing-stock all day.
Everyone mocks me.
8 For as often as I speak, I cry out. I cry out:
Violence and destruction!
For the word of the Lord has brought to me
reproach and disgrace, all day.
9 If I say, “I will not make mention of him,
nor speak his name any more,”
then a fire burns in my heart and my bones.
I am weary trying to withhold it,
and I cannot keep it in.
10 For I have heard many of them defaming me,
terror on every side.
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!
All of my friends are watching for my fall.
Perhaps he will be persuaded,
and we shall prevail against him,
and we shall take our revenge on him.
11 But the Lord is with me as an awesome mighty one.
Therefore my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not prevail.
They will be utterly disappointed,
because they have not dealt wisely,
with an everlasting dishonor
which will never be forgotten.
12 But, Lord of Hosts, who tests the righteous,
who sees the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance on them.
For to you I have presented my case.
13 Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord.
For he has delivered the needy
from the hand of evildoers.
14 Cursed is the day in which I was born.
Do not let the day on which my mother bore me be blessed.
15 Cursed is the man who brought news to my father, saying,
A boy is born to you, making him very glad.
16 Let that man be like the cities
which the Lord overthrew,
and did not relent.
And let him hear a cry in the morning,
and shouting at noontime,
17 because he did not kill me in the womb,
and thus my mother’s womb would have been my grave.
18 Why did I come forth out of the womb
to see labor and sorrow,
that my days should be consumed with shame?