Jeremiah 20:7-10

The Voice

⁷     O Eternal, You deceived me into being Your prophet,
        and I went along and allowed it to happen!
    Your strength is too much for me,
        and so You win; I speak Your words.
    Just look at what I have become: a laughingstock;
        all day long people mock me.
⁸     The only words coming out of my mouth
        are loud cries of “Violence and destruction!”
    It is the Eternal’s words—Your words—
        that bring me insults and jokes all day long.
⁹     But when I tell myself, I’ll never mention Your name
        or speak for You again, it’s no use.
    The word of God burns in my heart; it is like fire in my bones.
        I try to hold it all in, but I cannot.
¹⁰     I hear the crowds whispering behind my back and mocking my prophecies:
        “‘Terror is everywhere we turn,’ he says. Let’s report him for breaking some law.”
    Even my trusted friends are waiting for me to make a mistake:
        “Maybe he will be deceived,
        and then we’ll win, take control, and have our revenge on him.”