Passage

Jeremiah 20.14-18

Book: Jeremiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"12. But, O Jehovah of hosts, that triest the righteous, that seest the heart and the mind, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause. 13. Sing unto Jehovah, praise ye Jehovah; for he hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers."

"14. Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. 15. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man-child is born unto thee; making him very glad. 16. And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime; 17. because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great. 18. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?" (Jeremiah 20:12-18, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"12. But, Yahweh of Armies, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them; for to you I have revealed my cause. 13. Sing to Yahweh, praise Yahweh; for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers."

"14. Cursed is the day in which I was born. Don’t let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed. 15. Cursed is the man who brought news to my father, saying, “A boy is born to you,” making him very glad. 16. Let that man be as the cities which Yahweh overthrew, and didn’t repent. Let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime; 17. because he didn’t kill me from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great. 18. Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?" (Jeremiah 20:12-18, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"12. But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause. 13. Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers."

"14. Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. 15. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad. 16. 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; 17. 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. 18. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?" (Jeremiah 20:12-18, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"12. And, O Jehovah of Hosts, trier of the righteous, Beholder of reins and heart, I do see Thy vengeance out of them, For unto Thee I have revealed my cause. 13. Sing ye to Jehovah, praise Jehovah, For He hath delivered the soul of the needy From the hand of evil doers."

"14. Cursed [is] the day in which I was born, The day that my mother bare me, Let it not be blessed! 15. Cursed [is] the man who bore tidings [to] my father, saying, 'Born to thee hath been a child, a male,' Making him very glad! 16. Then hath that man been as the cities, That Jehovah overthrew, and repented not, And he hath heard a cry at morning, And a shout at time of noon. 17. Because he hath not put me to death from the womb, And my mother is to me, my grave, And her womb a pregnancy age-during. 18. Why [is] this? from the womb I have come out, To see labour and sorrow, Yea, consumed in shame are my days!" (Jeremiah 20:12-18, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.