Jeremiah 20:7-18

New International Version

Jeremiah’s Complaint

⁷You deceived^[a]^(A) me, Lord, and I was deceived^[b];
    you overpowered^(B) me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed^(C) all day long;
    everyone mocks^(D) me.
⁸Whenever I speak, I cry out
    proclaiming violence and destruction.^(E)
So the word of the Lord has brought me
    insult and reproach^(F) all day long.
⁹But if I say, “I will not mention his word
    or speak anymore in his name,”^(G)
his word is in my heart like a fire,^(H)
    a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;^(I)
    indeed, I cannot.
¹⁰I hear many whispering,
    “Terror^(J) on every side!
    Denounce^(K) him! Let’s denounce him!”
All my friends^(L)
    are waiting for me to slip,^(M) saying,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
    then we will prevail^(N) over him
    and take our revenge^(O) on him.”

¹¹But the Lord^(P) is with me like a mighty warrior;
    so my persecutors^(Q) will stumble and not prevail.^(R)
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;^(S)
    their dishonor will never be forgotten.
¹²Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous
    and probe the heart and mind,^(T)
let me see your vengeance^(U) on them,
    for to you I have committed^(V) my cause.

¹³Sing^(W) to the Lord!
Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues^(X) the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.^(Y)

¹⁴Cursed be the day I was born!^(Z)
    May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
¹⁵Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
    who made him very glad, saying,
    “A child is born to you—a son!”
¹⁶May that man be like the towns^(AA)
    the Lord overthrew without pity.
May he hear wailing^(AB) in the morning,
    a battle cry at noon.
¹⁷For he did not kill me in the womb,^(AC)
    with my mother as my grave,
    her womb enlarged forever.
¹⁸Why did I ever come out of the womb^(AD)
    to see trouble^(AE) and sorrow
    and to end my days in shame?^(AF)