Jeremiah 20 - Easy To Read Version

¹ A man named Pashhur was a priest. He was the highest officer in the temple {\cf2\super [165]} of the Lord. Pashhur was the son of a man named Immer. Pashhur heard Jeremiah preach those things in the temple yard.

² So he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten. And he had Jeremiah’s hands and feet locked between large blocks of wood. This was at the Upper Gate of Benjamin of the temple.

³ The next day Pashhur took Jeremiah out from between the blocks of wood. Then Jeremiah said to Pashhur, “The Lord’s name for you is not Pashhur. Now the Lord’s name for you is Terror on Every Side.

⁴ That is your name, because the Lord says: ‘I will soon make you a terror to yourself! I will soon make you a terror to all your friends. You will watch enemies killing your friends with swords. I will give all the people of Judah to the king of Babylon. He will take the people of Judah away to the country of Babylon. And his army will kill the people of Judah with their swords.

⁵ The people of Jerusalem worked hard to build things and become wealthy. But I will give all those things to their enemies. The king in Jerusalem has many treasures. But I will give all those treasures to the enemy. The enemy will take those things and carry them away to the country of Babylon.

⁶ And Pashhur, you and all the people living in your house will be taken away. You will be forced to go and live in the country of Babylon. You will die in Babylon. And you will be buried in that foreign country. You preached lies to your friends. \{You said these things would not happen.\} But all of your friends will also die and be buried in Babylon.’”

⁷ Lord, you tricked me,\par and I certainly was fooled.\par You are stronger than I am,\par so you won.\par I have become a joke.\par People laugh at me\par and make fun of me all day long.\par

⁸ Every time I speak, I shout.\par I am always shouting about\par violence and destruction.\par I tell the people about the message\par that I received from the Lord.\par But people only insult me\par and make fun of me.\par

⁹ Sometimes I say to myself,\par “I will forget about the Lord.\par I will not speak any more\par in the name of the Lord!”\par But when I say that,\par then the Lord’s message is like a fire\par burning inside of me!\par It feels like it is burning\par deep in my bones!\par I get tired of trying to hold\par the Lord’s message inside of me.\par And finally, I am not able to hold it in.\par

¹⁰ I hear people whispering against me.\par Everywhere, I hear things that scare me.\par Even my friends are saying things\par against me.\par People are just waiting for me\par to make some mistake.\par They are saying,\par “Let us lie and say he did some bad thing.\par Maybe we can trick Jeremiah.\par Then we will have him.\par We will finally be rid of him.\par Then we will grab him\par and take our revenge on him.”\par

¹¹ But the Lord is with me.\par The Lord is like a strong soldier.\par So the people that are chasing me will fall.\par Those people will not defeat me.\par Those people will fail.\par They will be disappointed.\par Those people will be ashamed.\par And people will never forget that shame.\par

¹² Lord All-Powerful, you test good people.\par You look deeply into a person’s mind.\par I told you my arguments\par against those people.\par So let me see you give them\par the punishment that they deserve.\par

¹³ Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!\par The Lord saves the lives of poor people!\par He saves them from wicked people!\par

¹⁴ Curse the day that I was born!\par Don’t bless the day my mother had me.\par

¹⁵ Curse the man that told my father\par the news that I was born.\par “You have a son,” he said.\par “It is a boy!”\par He made my father very happy\par when he told him that news.\par

¹⁶ Let that man be the same as\par the cities that the Lord destroyed. {\cf2\super [166]} \par The Lord did not have any pity\par on those cities.\par Let that man hear shouts of war\par in the morning.\par And let him hear battle cries\par at noontime.\par

¹⁷ Why? Because that man did not kill me\par while I was in my mother’s body.\par If he had killed me at that time,\par my mother would have been my grave,\par and I would never have been born.\par

¹⁸ Why did I have to come out of the body?\par All I have seen is trouble and sorrow.\par And my life will end in shame.\par