Jeremiah 20
The full text of Jeremiah 20 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 Now Pashhur son of Immer the priest, who was chief overseer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.
2 He beat Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin in the house of the LORD.
3 The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him: "The LORD does not call your name Pashhur but Magor-Missabib.
4 For this is what the LORD says: I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. With your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword.
5 I will give away all the wealth of this city, all its products, all its precious things — all the treasures of the kings of Judah. I will hand them over to their enemies, who will plunder them and seize them and carry them off to Babylon.
6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile. You will go to Babylon. There you will die and be buried — you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies."
7 You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived;
you overpowered me and prevailed.
I am a laughingstock all day long;
everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out;
I shout: 'Violence and destruction!'
For the word of the LORD has become
a reproach and derision to me all day long.
9 If I say, "I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,"
there is in my heart something like a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary of holding it in —
I cannot.
10 I hear many whispering:
"Terror on every side!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!"
All those who were my friends
are watching for me to stumble.
"Perhaps he can be enticed;
then we will prevail against him
and take our vengeance on him."
11 But the LORD is with me
like a mighty warrior.
So my persecutors will stumble and not prevail;
they will be greatly ashamed, for they will not succeed.
Their everlasting disgrace will never be forgotten.
12 O LORD of hosts, you who test the righteous,
who see the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
13 Sing to the LORD!
Praise the LORD!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.
14 Cursed be the day I was born!
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news
to my father:
"A son has been born to you!"
making him very glad.
16 Let that man be like the cities
the LORD overthrew without pity.
Let him hear wailing in the morning
and battle cries at noontime,
17 because he did not kill me in the womb
so that my mother would have been my grave,
her womb forever pregnant with me.
18 Why did I ever come out of the womb
to see trouble and sorrow
and spend my days in shame?
Translation notes (10)
- Jeremiah 20:1a The Hebrew phrase pāqîd nāgîd means "chief or principal officer." Pashhur held the highest priestly and police authority in the temple, and he is not the same Pashhur mentioned in Jeremiah 21:1.
- Jeremiah 20:2a The Hebrew word mah̆peḵet refers to "stocks or a pillory," which is a restraining device with holes for the neck, wrists, or ankles. The Upper Gate of Benjamin was the north gate of the temple precincts.
- Jeremiah 20:3a The Hebrew phrase māgôr missābîb means "terror all around or on every side." This phrase recurs as Jeremiah's watchword, signifying a total threat, as also seen in Jeremiah 6:25, 20:10, 46:5, and 49:29.
- Jeremiah 20:7a Heb. pittîtanî wā'eppat — 'you persuaded/enticed me and I was persuaded'; pittāh can mean both 'persuade' and 'seduce/deceive' (same word as sexual enticement in Ex 22:16). Jeremiah uses the most provocative term available.
- Jeremiah 20:8a The Hebrew phrase ḥāmās wāšōd means "violence and destruction or pillaging." These two words summarize the coming catastrophe, and every time Jeremiah speaks them, he is mocked.
- Jeremiah 20:9a The Hebrew phrase wᵉhāyāh bᵉlibbî kᵉʾēš bōʿeret means "there was in my heart as a burning or consuming fire." This is the most famous verse in Jeremiah's confessions, emphasizing that the divine word is irrepressible.
- Jeremiah 20:10a The Hebrew phrase māgôr missābîb, meaning "terror all around," is used by Jeremiah's enemies against him, intensifying their mockery (compare verse 3 and Jeremiah 6:25). The word "enticed" here is pittāh, the same root as in verse 7, indicating that his enemies use God's action as a model for their mockery.
- Jeremiah 20:11a Heb. kᵉgibbôr ʿārîṣ — 'like a terrifying warrior'; YHWH as divine warrior flanking the prophet (cf. Isa 42:13; Zeph 3:17).
- Jeremiah 20:12a The Hebrew phrase bōḥēn ṣaddîq rōʾeh kᵉlāyôt wālēb means "tester of the righteous, seer of kidneys and heart," as also found in Jeremiah 11:20 and 17:10. This is a legal expression, indicating that Jeremiah has committed his cause to the divine judge.
- Jeremiah 20:17a The Hebrew phrase wᵉtᵉhî 'immî qibrî means "and my mother would be my grave." This is a darkly poetic expression, suggesting that the womb that bore him should have been his permanent tomb.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Hebrew and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Jeremiah, is free to read here on the web.
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