Jeremiah 9:1

9:1 (8:23) I wish that my head were a well full of water

and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!

If they were, I could cry day and night

for those of my dear people who have been killed.

Jeremiah 15:10-21

Jeremiah Complains about His Lot and The Lord Responds

15:10 I said,

“Oh, mother, how I regret that you ever gave birth to me!

I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land.

I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone.

Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.”

15:11 The Lord said,

“Jerusalem, I will surely send you away for your own good.

I will surely bring the enemy upon you in a time of trouble and distress.

15:12 Can you people who are like iron and bronze

break that iron fist from the north?

15:13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder.

I will give it away free of charge for the sins you have committed throughout your land.

15:14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you know nothing about.

For my anger is like a fire that will burn against you.”

15:15 I said,

“Lord, you know how I suffer.

Take thought of me and care for me.

Pay back for me those who have been persecuting me.

Do not be so patient with them that you allow them to kill me.

Be mindful of how I have put up with their insults for your sake.

15:16 As your words came to me I drank them in,

and they filled my heart with joy and happiness

because I belong to you.

15:17 I did not spend my time in the company of other people,

laughing and having a good time.

I stayed to myself because I felt obligated to you

and because I was filled with anger at what they had done.

15:18 Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish?

Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound?

Will you let me down when I need you

like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on?”

15:19 Because of this, the Lord said,

“You must repent of such words and thoughts!

If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me.

If you say what is worthwhile instead of what is worthless,

I will again allow you to be my spokesman.

They must become as you have been.

You must not become like them.

15:20 I will make you as strong as a wall to these people,

a fortified wall of bronze.

They will attack you,

but they will not be able to overcome you.

For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you,”

says the Lord.

15:21 “I will deliver you from the power of the wicked.

I will free you from the clutches of violent people.”

Jeremiah 20:7-18

Jeremiah Complains about the Reaction to His Ministry

20:7 Lord, you coerced me into being a prophet,

and I allowed you to do it.

You overcame my resistance and prevailed over me.

Now I have become a constant laughingstock.

Everyone ridicules me.

20:8 For whenever I prophesy, I must cry out,

“Violence and destruction are coming!”

This message from the Lord has made me

an object of continual insults and derision.

20:9 Sometimes I think, “I will make no mention of his message.

I will not speak as his messenger any more.”

But then his message becomes like a fire

locked up inside of me, burning in my heart and soul.

I grow weary of trying to hold it in;

I cannot contain it.

20:10 I hear many whispering words of intrigue against me.

Those who would cause me terror are everywhere!

They are saying, “Come on, let’s publicly denounce him!”

All my so-called friends are just watching for

something that would lead to my downfall.

They say, “Perhaps he can be enticed into slipping up,

so we can prevail over him and get our revenge on him.

20:11 But the Lord is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior.

Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me.

They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed.

Their disgrace will never be forgotten.

20:12 O Lord who rules over all, you test and prove the righteous.

You see into people’s hearts and minds.

Pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.

20:13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!

For he rescues the oppressed from the clutches of evildoers.

20:14 Cursed be the day I was born!

May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me.

20:15 Cursed be the man

who made my father very glad

when he brought him the news

that a baby boy had been born to him!

20:16 May that man be like the cities

that the Lord destroyed without showing any mercy.

May he hear a cry of distress in the morning

and a battle cry at noon.

20:17 For he did not kill me before I came from the womb,

making my pregnant mother’s womb my grave forever.

20:18 Why did I ever come forth from my mother’s womb?

All I experience is trouble and grief,

and I spend my days in shame.

Psalms 120:5

120:5 How miserable I am!

For I have lived temporarily in Meshech;

I have resided among the tents of Kedar.