Jeremiah 20:7-18

7Lord, You persuaded me and I let myself be persuaded; You have 1overcome me and prevailed. I have become a 2laughingstock all day long; Everyone 3mocks me.8For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I 4proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the 5word of the Lord has 6resulted In taunting and derision all day long.9But if I say, “I will not 7remember Him Nor speak anymore in His name,” Then in 8my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am tired of holding it in, And 9I cannot endure it.10For 10I have heard the whispering of many, “11Terror on every side! 12Denounce him; let’s denounce him!” 13All my 14trusted friends, Watching for my fall, say: “Perhaps he will be persuaded, so that we may 15prevail against him And take our revenge on him.”11But the 16Lord is with me like a powerful champion; Therefore my 17persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be put to great shame because they have 18failed, An 19everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.12Yet, Lord of armies, who 20tests the righteous, Who sees the 21mind and the heart; Let me 22see Your vengeance on them, For 23to You I have disclosed my cause.1324Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord! For He has 25saved the soul of the needy one From the hand of evildoers.

14Cursed be the 26day when I was born; May the day when my mother gave birth to me not be blessed!15Cursed be the man who brought the news To my father, saying, “A 2728boy has been born to you!” And made him very happy.16But may that man be like the cities Which the Lord 29overthrew without 30relenting, And may he hear an 31outcry in the morning And 32an alarm for war at noon;17Because he did not 33kill me 34before birth, So that my mother would have been my grave, And her womb forever pregnant.18Why did I ever come out of the womb To 35look at trouble and sorrow, So that my 36days have been spent in 37shame?