Jeremiah 20:7–18

⁷O Lord, thou hast ^kdeceived me, and I was ^||kdeceived:

^lThou art stronger than I, and ^mhast prevailed:

I ⁿam in derision daily,

Every one mocketh me.

⁸For since I spake, I cried out,

I cried ^oviolence and spoil;

Because ^pthe word of the Lord was made ^qa reproach unto me,

And ^qa derision, daily.

⁹Then I said, I will not make mention of him,

Nor speak any more in his name.

But ^lhis word was in ^rmine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones,

And ^sI was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

^10tFor I heard the defaming of many, ^ufear on every side.

^vReport, ^wsay they, and we will report it.

^†xAll my familiars ^ywatched for ^zmy halting, ^wsaying,

Peradventure he will be enticed, and ^mwe shall prevail against him,

And we shall take our revenge on him.

¹¹But ^athe Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one:

Therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and ^bthey shall not prevail:

^cThey shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper:

Their ^deverlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

¹²But, O Lord of hosts, ^ethat triest the righteous,

And ^eseest the reins and the heart,

^efLet me see thy vengeance on them:

^eFor unto thee have I opened my cause.

^13gSing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord:

^gFor he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

^14hCursed be the day wherein I was born:

Let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.

¹⁵Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying,

A man child is born unto thee;

Making him very glad.

¹⁶And let that man be as ⁱthe cities which the Lord overthrew, and repented not:

And ^klet him hear the cry in the morning, and ^lthe shouting at noontide;

^17mBecause he slew me not from the womb;

Or that my mother might have been my grave,

And her womb to be always great with me.

^18hmnWherefore came I forth out of the womb

^oTo see labour and sorrow,

That my days should be consumed with shame?