Jeremiah 20:17
15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy.
16 May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without compassion. May he hear an outcry in the morning and a battle cry at noon,
because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb forever enlarged.
18 Why did I come out of the womb to see only trouble and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb forever enlarged.
- KJV
- 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.
- WEB
- because he didn’t kill me from the womb. So my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
- ASV
- because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
- DARBY
- because he slew me not from the womb. Or would that my mother had been my grave, and her womb always great [with me]!
- BLB
- Because he did not kill me from the womb, that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb pregnant forever.
- ÅB
- fordi han ikke drepte meg i mors liv, så min mor ble min grav, og hennes liv fruktsommelig til evig tid.
- OTB
- For han endte ikke mitt liv i mors liv, med min mor som min grav, hennes livmor forstørret for alltid.
- B1930
- fordi han ikke drepte mig i mors liv, så min mor blev min grav, og hennes liv fruktsommelig til evig tid.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Job 10:18–19
Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me!
Read in contextJob 3:10–11
For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes.
Read in contextJob 3:16
Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?
Read in contextEcclesiastes 6:3
A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
Read in context