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  • Jeremiah 20:7-13

    Total despair

    Lord, you enticed me, and I was taken in.
        You were too strong for me, and you prevailed.
    Now I’m laughed at all the time;
        everyone mocks me.
    Every time I open my mouth, I cry out
        and say, “Violence and destruction!”
    The Lord’s word has brought me
        nothing but insult and injury, constantly.
    I thought, I’ll forget him;
        I’ll no longer speak in his name.
    But there’s an intense fire in my heart,
        trapped in my bones.
        I’m drained trying to contain it;
            I’m unable to do it.
    10 I hear many whispering—
        “Panic Lurks Everywhere!—
        proclaim, yes, let’s proclaim it ourselves!”
    All my friends are waiting for me to stumble:
        “Perhaps he can be enticed.
            Then we’ll prevail against him
                and get our revenge on him!”
    11 But the Lord is with me like a strong defender.
        Therefore, my oppressors
            will stumble and not prevail.
    They will be disgraced by their own failures.
        Their dishonor will never be forgotten.
    12 The Lord of heavenly forces tests the righteous
        and discerns the heart and the mind.
    Let me see your retribution upon them,
        for I have committed my case to you.
    13 Sing to the Lord,
        praise the Lord,
            for he has rescued the needy
            from the clutches of evildoers.