Jeremiah 20:7–13

⁷O Lord, thou hast deceived me,

and I was deceived;

thou art stronger than I,

and thou hast prevailed.

I have become a laughingstock all the day;

every one mocks me.

⁸For whenever I speak, I cry out,

I shout, “Violence and destruction!”

For the word of the Lord has become for me

a reproach and derision all day long.

⁹If I say, “I will not mention him,

or speak any more in his name,”

there is in my heart as it were a burning fire

shut up in my bones,

and I am weary with holding it in,

and I cannot.

¹⁰For I hear many whispering.

Terror is on every side!

“Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”

say all my familiar friends,

watching for my fall.

“Perhaps he will be deceived,

then we can overcome him,

and take our revenge on him.”

¹¹But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;

therefore my persecutors will stumble,

they will not overcome me.

They will be greatly shamed,

for they will not succeed.

Their eternal dishonor

will never be forgotten.

¹²O Lord of hosts, who triest the righteous,

who seest the heart and the mind,

let me see thy vengeance upon them,

for to thee have I committed my cause.

¹³Sing to the Lord;

praise the Lord!

For he has delivered the life of the needy

from the hand of evildoers.