Jeremiah 20:14–18
The NET BibleOther versions
English
- NET The NET Bible
- DARBY 1890 Darby Bible
- ASV American Standard Version
- AV 1873 The Cambridge Paragraph Bible of the Authorized English Version
- CSB Christian Standard Bible
- D-R Douay-Rheims Bible
- ESV English Standard Version
- GW GOD’S WORD Translation
- GNB Good News Translation
- HCSB The Holman Christian Standard Bible
- KJV 1900 King James Version
- LSB Legacy Standard Bible
- LEB The Lexham English Bible
- MSG The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language
- NASB95 New American Standard Bible (1995)
- NCV New Century Version
- NIrV New International Reader’s Version (1998)
- NIV New International Version (2011)
- NKJV The New King James Version
- NLT New Living Translation
- NRSVue New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition
- RSV The Revised Standard Version
- RSVCE The Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition
- YLT Young’s Literal Translation
Arabic
Czech
French
German
Hebrew
Hungarian
Italian
Korean
Latin
Portuguese
Russian
Simplified Chinese
Spanish
Traditional Chinese
20:14Cursed be the day I was born!
May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me.29
20:15Cursed be the man
who made my father very glad
when he brought him the news
that a baby boy had been born to him!30
20:16May that man be like the cities31
that the Lord destroyed without showing any mercy.
May he hear a cry of distress in the morning
and a battle cry at noon.
20:17For he did not kill me before I came from the womb,
making my pregnant mother’s womb my grave forever.32
20:18Why did I ever come forth from my mother’s womb?
All I experience is trouble and grief,
and I spend my days in shame.33
Footnotes
- 29 From the heights of exaltation, Jeremiah returns to the depths of despair. For similar mood swings in the psalms of lament compare Ps 102. Verses 14–18 are similar in tone and mood to Job 3:1–10. They are very forceful rhetorical ways of Job and Jeremiah expressing the wish that they had never been born.
- 30 Heb “Cursed be the man who brought my father the news saying, ‘A son, a male, has been born to you,’ making glad his joy.” This verse has been restructured for English stylistic purposes. The birth of a child was an occasion of great joy. This was especially true if the child was a boy because it meant the continuance of the family line and the right of retention of the family property. See Ruth 4:10, 13–17.
- 31 The cities alluded to are Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the Jordan plain which had become proverbial for their wickedness and for the destruction that the Lord brought on them because of it. See Isa 1:9–10; 13:19; Jer 23:14; 49:18.
- 32 Heb “because he did not kill me from the womb so my mother might be to me for my grave and her womb eternally pregnant.” The sentence structure has been modified and the word “womb” moved from the last line to the next to the last line for English stylistic purposes and greater clarity.
- 33 Heb “Why did I come forth from the womb to see [= so that I might see] trouble and grief and that my days might be consumed in shame.”
The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press
In other versions
ESVEnglish Standard Version
Cursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
“A son is born to you,”
making him very glad.
Let that man be like the cities
that the Lord overthrew without pity;
let him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
because he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb forever great.
Why did I come out from the womb
to see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?
Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles
NIVNew International Version (2011)
Cursed be the day I was born!
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
who made him very glad, saying,
“A child is born to you—a son!”
May that man be like the towns
the Lord overthrew without pity.
May he hear wailing in the morning,
a battle cry at noon.
For he did not kill me in the womb,
with my mother as my grave,
her womb enlarged forever.
Why did I ever come out of the womb
to see trouble and sorrow
and to end my days in shame?
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.
CSBChristian Standard Bible
May the day I was born
be cursed.
May the day my mother bore me
never be blessed.
May the man be cursed
who brought the news to my father, saying,
“A male child is born to you,”
bringing him great joy.
Let that man be like the cities
the Lord demolished without compassion.
Let him hear an outcry in the morning
and a war cry at noontime
because he didn’t kill me in the womb
so that my mother might have been my grave,
her womb eternally pregnant.
Why did I come out of the womb
to see only struggle and sorrow,
to end my life in shame?
Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
NLTNew Living Translation
Yet I curse the day I was born!
May no one celebrate the day of my birth.
I curse the messenger who told my father,
“Good news—you have a son!”
Let him be destroyed like the cities of old
that the Lord overthrew without mercy.
Terrify him all day long with battle shouts,
because he did not kill me at birth.
Oh, that I had died in my mother’s womb,
that her body had been my grave!
Why was I ever born?
My entire life has been filled
with trouble, sorrow, and shame.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
LEBThe Lexham English Bible
Cursed be the day on which I was born,
let not the day on which my mother gave birth to me be blessed.
Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
saying, “A child is born to you, a son!”
and he made him very glad.
And let that man be like the cities
that Yahweh demolished without regret,
and let him hear a cry for help in the morning,
and an alarm at the time of noon.
Because he did not kill me in the womb,
so that my mother would have been for me my grave,
and her womb would be pregnant forever.
Why did I come out from the womb,
to see toil, and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?
Copyright 2012 Lexham Press
KJV 1900King James Version
Cursed be the day wherein I was born:
Let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying,
A man child is born unto thee;
Making him very glad.
And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew, and repented not:
And let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;
Because 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.
Wherefore came I forth out of the womb
To see labour and sorrow,
That my days should be consumed with shame?
Public Domain