Jeremiah 18:20–23

20 Should good be repaid with evil?

Yet they have dug a pit for me.

Remember that I stood before you

and spoke in their behalf

to turn your wrath away from them.

21 So give their children over to famine;

hand them over to the power of the sword.

Let their wives be made childless and widows;

let their men be put to death,

their young men slain by the sword in battle.

22 Let a cry be heard from their houses

when you suddenly bring invaders against them,

for they have dug a pit to capture me

and have hidden snares for my feet.

23 But you, Lord, know

all their plots to kill me.

Do not forgive their crimes

or blot out their sins from your sight.

Let them be overthrown before you;

deal with them in the time of your anger.

20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them. 21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle. 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. 23 Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

20 Should they repay evil for good?

They have dug a pit to kill me,

though I pleaded for them

and tried to protect them from your anger.

21 So let their children starve!

Let them die by the sword!

Let their wives become childless widows.

Let their old men die in a plague,

and let their young men be killed in battle!

22 Let screaming be heard from their homes

as warriors come suddenly upon them.

For they have dug a pit for me

and have hidden traps along my path.

23 Lord, you know all about their murderous plots against me.

Don’t forgive their crimes and blot out their sins.

Let them die before you.

Deal with them in your anger.

20 Shall evil be repaid for good?

For they have dug a pit for my life.

Remember that I stood before You

To speak good for them,

To turn away Your wrath from them.

21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine,

And pour out their blood

By the force of the sword;

Let their wives become widows

And bereaved of their children.

Let their men be put to death,

Their young men be slain

By the sword in battle.

22 Let a cry be heard from their houses,

When You bring a troop suddenly upon them;

For they have dug a pit to take me,

And hidden snares for my feet.

23 Yet, Lord, You know all their counsel

Which is against me, to slay me.

Provide no atonement for their iniquity,

Nor blot out their sin from Your sight;

But let them be overthrown before You.

Deal thus with them

In the time of Your anger.

20 Good should not be paid back with evil,

but they have dug a pit in order to kill me.

Remember that I stood before you

and asked you to do good things for these people

and to turn your anger away from them.

21 So now, let their children starve,

and let their enemies kill them with swords.

Let their wives lose their children and husbands.

Let the men from Judah be put to death

and the young men be killed with swords in battle.

22 Let them cry out in their houses

when you bring an enemy against them suddenly.

Let all this happen, because my enemies have dug

a pit to capture me and have hidden traps for my feet.

23 Lord, you know

about all their plans to kill me.

Don’t forgive their crimes

or erase their sins from your mind.

Make them fall from their places;

punish them while you are angry.

20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them. 21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, and their young men smitten of the sword in battle. 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. 23 Yet, Jehovah, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me; forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight; but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thou with them in the time of thine anger.

20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? For they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them. 21 Therefore give up their children to the famine, and deliver them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of children and be widows; and let their men be swept off by death, their young men be smitten by the sword in battle. 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have digged a pit to take me, and have hidden snares for my feet. 23 And thou, Jehovah, knowest all their counsel against me to slay me. Forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee: deal with them in the time of thine anger.

20 Good should not be paid back with evil. 

They dig a pit to take my life. 

Remember how I stood in your presence and pleaded for them 

in order to turn your anger away from them. 

21 Now, hand their children over to famine. 

Pour out their ⸤blood⸥ by using your sword. 

Then their wives will become childless widows. 

Their husbands will be put to death. 

Their young men will be struck down in battle. 

22 Make them cry out from their homes 

when you suddenly send troops against them, 

because they dug a pit to catch me and hid snares for my feet. 

23 But you, O Lord, know that they plan to kill me. 

Don’t forgive their crimes. 

Don’t wipe their sins out of your sight. 

Make them stumble in your presence. 

Deal with them when you get angry. 

20 Should good be repaid with evil?

Yet they have dug a pit for me.

Remember how I stood before You

to speak good on their behalf,

to turn Your anger from them.

21 Therefore, hand their children over to famine,

and pour the sword’s power on them.

Let their wives become childless and widowed,

their husbands slain by deadly disease,

their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

22 Let a cry be heard from their houses

when You suddenly bring raiders against them,

for they have dug a pit to capture me

and have hidden snares for my feet.

23 But You, Lord, know

all their deadly plots against me.

Do not wipe out their guilt;

do not blot out their sin before You.

Let them be forced to stumble before You;

deal with them in the time of Your anger.

20 Is evil a recompense for good?

Yet they have dug a pit for my life.

Remember how I stood before you

to speak good for them,

to turn away your wrath from them.

21 Therefore give their children over to famine;

hurl them out to the power of the sword;

let their wives become childless and widowed.

May their men meet death by pestilence,

their youths be slain by the sword in battle.

22 May a cry be heard from their houses

when you bring the marauder suddenly upon them!

For they have dug a pit to catch me

and laid snares for my feet.

23 Yet you, O Lord, know

all their plotting to kill me.

Do not forgive their iniquity;

do not blot out their sin from your sight.

Let them be tripped up before you;

deal with them while you are angry.

20 Should good be repaid in place of evil?

Yet they have dug a pit for me.

Remember my standing before you to speak good for them,

to avert your wrath from them.

21 Therefore give their children to the famine,

and hand them over to the power of the sword,

and let their wives be bereaved and widows,

and let their men be killed by death,

their young men struck dead

by the sword in the battle.

22 Let a cry for help be heard from their houses

when you suddenly bring upon them the raiding band,

for they have dug a pit to catch me,

and they have fixed secretly a trap for my feet.

23 But you, O Yahweh, you know

all their plans of assassination against me.

You must not make atonement for their iniquity,

and you must not cause their sin to be blotted out from before you.

But let them be overthrown before you.

Deal with them in the time of your anger.

20 Should the good things I’ve done be paid back with evil?

But my enemies have dug a pit for me.

Remember that I stood in front of you

and spoke up for them.

I tried to turn your anger away from them.

21 So let their children die of hunger.

Let my enemies be killed in war.

Let their wives lose their children and husbands.

Let their men be put to death.

Let their young men be killed in battle.

22 Bring their enemies against them without warning.

Let cries be heard from their houses.

They have dug a pit to capture me.

They have hidden traps for my feet.

23 But Lord, you know

all about their plans to kill me.

Don’t forgive their crimes.

Don’t erase their sins from your sight.

Destroy my enemies.

Punish them when the time to show your anger comes.

20 Should good be repaid with evil?

For they have dug a pit for me.

Remember how I stood before You

To speak good on their behalf,

So as to turn away Your wrath from them.

21 Therefore, give their children over to famine

And deliver them up to the power of the sword;

And let their wives become childless and widowed.

Let their men also be smitten to death,

Their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

22 May an outcry be heard from their houses,

When You suddenly bring raiders upon them;

For they have dug a pit to capture me

And hidden snares for my feet.

23 Yet You, O Lord, know

All their deadly designs against me;

Do not forgive their iniquity

Or blot out their sin from Your sight.

But may they be overthrown before You;

Deal with them in the time of Your anger!