Bible Verse Lookup
Jer 20:14-18
Chapter 20
14
Cursed be the day I was born! Bless not the day my mother brought me into light!
15
Cursed be the man who broke the news to my father: ‘It’s a boy!’ making him very glad!
16
Let him resemble the towns that the Lord destroyed without mercy. Let him hear a warning shout in the morning and a battle cry at noon!
17
For he did not kill me in the womb, that my mother would have been my grave, and have carried me forever.
18
Why did I ever leave the womb to face trouble and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?
Commentaries
Jeremiah’s Confessions: End.
Jeremiah feels betrayed by God, who had enticed him with beautiful promises. Now he finds himself abandoned before a hostile crowd, enduring mockery and scorn. In this distress, the prophet recognizes that the Word of the Lord is deeply engraved on his heart and must be proclaimed (8-9), and that his God, even in his failure, is with him (11), as he had promised (1:8). The prophet is a man of God’s Word. His faithfulness to it brings rejection and suffering. It is from this place of deep pain that his song of victory and praise emerges (11-13).