Jeremiah 20:10–13, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 20:10–13
Terror, Surveillance, and Praise Share One Confession
Defaming many watch for a halt, and vengeance is asked of the tester
For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. 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.
The prayer does not authorize surveillance or revenge. 'Fear on every side' echoes Pashur's new name and the siege climate. Familiars watching for a stumble is social danger, not a cue for you to monitor neighbors. Opening the cause to God is the alternative to taking revenge.
Praise interrupts the plea: the poor person's life has been delivered
Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
Lament can hold unresolved contradiction. The mood shift is not a diagnosis. Deliverance of the poor is the reason for praise, not a claim that the surrounding fear has vanished or that the next stanza cannot curse birth.
How this should shape us
Do not surveil people waiting for them to fall. Do not take the vengeance you ask God to see. Let praise and fear stand near each other without forcing a tidy psychological story.
Teach it back
Explain Jeremiah 20:10–13 in your own words. Name its place in Jeremiah, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: The prayer does not authorize surveillance, revenge, or treating a mood shift as a diagnosis; lament can hold unresolved contradiction.
How certain? strongResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Jeremiah 20:10–13, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 20:10–13
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 20:10–13
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.
Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline, Themes, and passage studies: covenant, confessions, signs, and prophetic suffering; applied to Jeremiah 20:10–13
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.
Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 1 study guide, pp. 1-6: composition, Josianic setting, temple sermon, and imperial context; applied to Jeremiah 20:10–13
Supports: Abstract-level control for reading Jeremiah's confessions as protest and communication amid loss; no inaccessible page detail is claimed.
O'Connor, 'Lamenting Back to Life,' Interpretation 62.1 (2008), abstract and bibliographic pages 34-47; applied only at inspected abstract level to Jeremiah 20:10–13
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Jeremiah 20:10–13, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2; fixed commit
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 20:10–13
Open the fixed Hebrew Jeremiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Jeremiah with Translator, Textual, and Study Notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; official eBible PDF distribution, NET Bible Second Edition; official PDF accessed 2026
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 20:10–13
Open the official NET Jeremiah PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Jeremiah: Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Themes, and Bible in the World
Terence E. Fretheim and Michael Chan
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current public course accessed 2026
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline, Themes, and passage studies: covenant, confessions, signs, and prophetic suffering; applied to Jeremiah 20:10–13
Open the Enter the Bible Jeremiah course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Jeremiah Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 1 study guide, pp. 1-6: composition, Josianic setting, temple sermon, and imperial context; applied to Jeremiah 20:10–13
Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗peer reviewed lament and trauma article
Lamenting Back to Life
Kathleen M. O'Connor
Interpretation 62.1, 2008
Supports: Abstract-level control for reading Jeremiah's confessions as protest and communication amid loss; no inaccessible page detail is claimed.
Exact location: O'Connor, 'Lamenting Back to Life,' Interpretation 62.1 (2008), abstract and bibliographic pages 34-47; applied only at inspected abstract level to Jeremiah 20:10–13
Open the publisher record for O'Connor on lament ↗