Year of the Bible
Jeremiah 20
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Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 20:
One of the priests of the Temple beats and arrests Jeremiah for his preaching. Jeremiah’s response reveals for the first time the specifics for how destruction of Jerusalem will come about: the rising empire of Babylon will attack Judah, take prisoners including the priests, deport leaders from the nation, and loot the capital city of its wealth. Jeremiah then turns to God and expresses his frustration at how, the more he speaks God’s words, the more he is ostracized and mocked. He admits he would rather not speak God’s words, but he cannot stop himself. In exceedingly honest terms, he articulates his own sorrow at even being born while he awaits the day when he will witness God’s judgment on his enemies.
The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 20:
Jeremiah Is Persecuted by Pashhur and Complains to God
1 Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. 3 On the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on every side. 4 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. 5 Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them, and seize them, and carry them to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity; to Babylon you shall go; and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.”
7 O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived;
you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all the day;
every one mocks me.
8 For 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.
9 If 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.
10 For 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.”
11 But 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.
12 O Lord of hosts, who test the righteous,
who see the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
13 Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.
14 Cursed be the day on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man
who brought the news to my father,
“A son is born to you,” making him very glad.
16 Let that man be like the cities which the Lord overthrew
without pity;
let him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
17 because he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb for ever great.
18 Why did I come forth from the womb
to see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?
*Daily Lectio Divina Question:
Today we hear the Prophet Jeremiah's cry of anguish to God after being persecuted for speaking the truth. If you have ever felt persecuted for speaking the truth, how did the Lord sustain you in such trials? Has the Lord brought unexpected blessings out of your trials?
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Jeremías 20
1 Pasjur, hijo de Imer, sacerdote y, a la
sazón, inspector jefe del Templo del
Señor, oyó a Jeremías profetizar estas cosas.
2 Pasjur mandó flagelar al profeta Jeremías
y ponerle en el cepo que estaba en la
Puerta Alta de Benjamín, en el Templo del
Señor.
3 Cuando al día siguiente ordenó
Pasjur sacar a Jeremías del cepo, Jeremías
le dijo:
–No es Pasjur el nombre que te ha
puesto el Señor, sino Magor-Misabib.
4 Porque esto dice el Señor: «Mira que
Yo hago de ti un motivo de terror para ti
y todos tus amigos. Ellos caerán bajo la
espada de sus enemigos, y lo verán tus
ojos. Entregaré Judá entera en manos
del rey de Babilonia, que los deportará a
Babilonia, y los herirá a espada. 5 Entregaré
todas las riquezas de esta ciudad;
todos sus productos, todos sus objetos
preciosos y todos los tesoros de los reyes
de Judá los entregaré en manos de sus
enemigos. Éstos los saquearán, los arrebatarán
y se los llevarán a Babilonia. 6 Y
tú, Pasjur, con todos los que habitan en
tu casa, iréis al cautiverio. Tú llegarás a
Babilonia y morirás allí, y allí serás enterrado,
tú y todos tus amigos, a quienes
vaticinaste con falsedad».
7Me sedujiste, Señor, y yo me dejé
seducir.
Fuiste más fuerte que yo, y me venciste.
He llegado a ser un hazmerreír todo
el día,
todo el mundo se burla de mí.
8Cada vez que hablo tengo que gritar,
he de pregonar: «¡Violencia, destrucción!
».
La palabra del Señor es para mí
oprobio y escarnio cada día.
9Yo me dije: «No me acordaré de Él,
ni hablaré más en su Nombre».
Pero es dentro de mí como fuego
abrasador,
encerrado en mis huesos;
me esfuerzo por soportarlo,
pero no puedo.
10Oigo las calumnias de la gente:
«¡Terror alrededor!
¡Delatadle! ¡Delatémosle!».
Todos mis conocidos aguardan mi
tropiezo:
«¡Ojalá se deje seducir, entonces podremos
con él,
y nos tomaremos venganza!».
11Pero el Señor está conmigo como
bravo guerrero,
por eso, los que me persiguen caerán
impotentes,
sentirán gran vergüenza de no haber
triunfado,
oprobio perenne, inolvidable.
12¡Señor de los ejércitos, que escrutas
al justo,
que ves entrañas y corazón,
que vea yo cómo te vengas de ellos,
pues a ti presento mi causa!
13Cantad al Señor, alabad al Señor,
que libró la vida de un pobre
de mano de los malvados.
14¡Maldito el día que nací!
¡El día que mi madre me parió,
que no sea bendito!
15¡Maldito el hombre que anunció
a mi padre:
«Te ha nacido un hijo varón»,
haciéndole feliz!
16Sea aquel hombre como las ciudades
que el Señor destruyó sin compasión;
oiga gritos de mañana,
y alaridos a mediodía,
17por no haberme matado en el seno
materno,
de modo que mi madre fuese mi sepulcro
y su seno, grávido por siempre.
18¿Por qué salí del seno materno
para ver penas y aflicciones,
y que mis días se consumen en vergüenza?
Pregunta de Lectio Divina del día de hoy
Hoy escuchamos al Profeta Jeremías en un llanto de angustia ante Dios por ser peseguidos por hablar con la verdad. Si algunas vez te has sentido perseguido por hablar con la verdad, ¿cómo te sostuvo el Señor en dichas pruebas? ¿El Señor ha sacado bendiciones inesperadas de tus pruebas?
La Biblia de Navarra
Permiso para usar esta versión de la primera edición de la Biblia de Navarra
para el Año de la Biblia del Obispo
dado por Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A. (EUNSA).