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The Prophecy
of Jeremias 20
Now Phassur the son of Emmur, the priest, who was appointed
chief in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremias prophesying
these words.
And Phassur struck Jeremias the prophet, and put him
in the stocks, that were in the upper gate of Benjamin,
in the house of the Lord.
And when it was light the next day, Phassur brought
Jeremias out of the stocks. And Jeremias said to him:
The Lord hath not called thy name Phassur, but fear
on every side.
For thus saith the Lord: Behold I will deliver thee
up to fear, thee and all thy friends: and they shall
fall by the sword of their enemies, and thy eyes shall
see it, and I will give all Juda into the hand of the
king of Babylon: and he shall strike them with the sword.
And I will give all the substance of this city, and
all its labour, and every precious thing thereof, and
all the treasures of the kings of Juda will I give into
the hands of their enemies: and they shall pillage them,
and take them away, and carry them to Babylon.
But thou, Phassur, and all that dwell in thy house,
shall go into captivity, and thou shalt go to Babylon,
and there thou shalt die, and there thou shalt be buried,
thou and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied
a lie.
Thou hast deceived me, O Lord, and I am deceived: thou
hast been stronger than I, and thou hast prevailed.
I am become a laughing-stock all the day, all scoff
at me.
For I am speaking now this long time, crying out against
iniquity, and I often proclaim devistation: and the
word of the Lord is made a reproach to me, and a derision
all the day.
Then I said: I will not make mention of him, nor speak
any more in his name: and there came in my heart as
a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was wearied,
not being able to bear it.
For I heard the reproaches of many, and terror on every
side: Persecute him, and let us persecute him: from
all the men that were my familiars, and continued at
my side: if by any means he may be deceived, and we
may prevail against him, and be revenged on him.
But the Lord is with me as a strong warrior: therefore
they that persecute me shall fall, and shall be weak:
they shall be greatly confounded, because they have
not understood the everlasting reproach, which never
shall be effaced.
And thou, O Lord of hosts, prover of the just, who seest
the reins and the heart: let me see, I beseech thee,
thy vengeance on them: for to thee I have laid open
my cause.
Sing ye to the Lord, praise the Lord: because he hath
delivered the soul of the poor out of the hand of the
wicked.
Cursed be the day wherein I was borne: let not the day
in which my mother bore me, be blessed.
Cursed be the man that brought the tidings to my father,
saying: A man child is born to thee: and made him greatly
rejoice.
Let that man be as the cities that the Lord hath overthrown,
and hath not repented: let him hear a cry in the morning,
and howling at noontide:
Who slew me not from the womb, that my mother might
have been my grave, and her womb an everlasting conception.
Why came I out of the womb, to see labour and sorrow,
and that my days should be spent in confusion? |