Jeremiah

Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

1Pashhur was a priest, the son of Immer. He was the chief officer in the LORD's temple. He heard Jeremiah saying these things from God.

2Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.

2So Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten. Then he locked him in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, near the temple.

3And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.

3The next day Pashhur let Jeremiah out of the stocks. Jeremiah said to him, "The LORD does not call you Pashhur. He calls you Magor-missabib.

NoteMagor-missabib means "Terror on Every Side." Jeremiah is giving Pashhur a new name that describes what is coming.

4For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.

4This is what the LORD says: I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. You will watch them die by their enemies' swords. I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will carry them away and kill them with the sword.

5Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.

5I will give away everything this city has worked for. All its goods, all its riches, and all the treasures of Judah's kings will go to their enemies. They will rob them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.

6And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.

6And you, Pashhur, and everyone in your house will be taken away. You will go to Babylon, and you will die there and be buried there. So will all your friends, whom you fed lies while claiming to speak for God."

7O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.

7LORD, you talked me into this, and I let you. You are stronger than I am, and you won. Now people laugh at me all day long. Everyone makes fun of me.

NoteThe KJV says "thou hast deceived me." The Hebrew word can also mean persuaded or talked into. Jeremiah is saying God convinced him to take a job that turned out to be far harder than he expected.

8For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.

8Every time I speak, I have to shout. I warn of violence and ruin. So your message brings me insults and jokes all day long.

9Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

9So I said, "I will not mention him. I will not speak in his name again." But his word became a fire burning inside me, shut up in my bones. I got tired of holding it in. I could not keep quiet.

10For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

10I hear people whispering about me. Terror is on every side. They say, "Report him! Let's report him!" Even my close friends are waiting for me to slip. They say, "Maybe he can be tricked. Then we can beat him and pay him back."

11But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

11But the LORD is with me like a fearsome soldier. So the people chasing me will trip and fail. They will fail, and they will be deeply ashamed. Their disgrace will last forever and never be forgotten.

12But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.

12LORD of Armies, you test people who do right. You see the heart and the mind. Let me see you pay them back, because I have handed my case to you.

NoteThe KJV says God sees "the reins and the heart." "Reins" is an old word for the kidneys, which people then thought of as the seat of a person's deepest feelings. It means God sees everything inside a person.

13Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

13Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! He rescues the life of the helpless from the hands of evil people.

14Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.

14Curse the day I was born. May the day my mother gave birth to me never be called good.

15Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.

15Curse the man who brought my father the news. He said, "You have a son!" and made my father very happy.

16And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;

16Let that man be like the cities the LORD tore down without pity. Let him hear screaming in the morning and battle cries at noon.

17Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.

17He should have killed me before I was born. Then my mother would have been my grave, and I would never have come out.

18Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

18Why was I ever born? All I see is trouble and sorrow, and my days end in shame.