Bible Strands
Jeremiah 20:7
You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jeremiah speaks directly to God immediately after pronouncing judgment on the official Pashhur and his household. He voices his distress in the moment following his arrest and the declaration of his own prophetic burden.
The words — The verb פִּתִּיתַ֤/נִי (pi.ti.Ta./ni) translates literally as "you deceived me," paired with its passive form וָֽ/אֶפָּ֔ת (va./'e.Pat), "and I was deceived." The phrase חֲזַקְתַּ֖/נִי (cha.zak.Ta./ni) means "you prevailed over me."
The thread — The motif of daily prophetic mockery appears in Lamentations 3:14 and Hosea 9:7, where the prophet is labeled a fool and ridiculed. The tension between divine urging and human resistance continues in Jeremiah 20:9.
Why it lands — The text states that prophetic calling produces unavoidable suffering and public derision before drawing any conclusion about divine purpose. It requires the reader to accept that obedience to the word overrides personal comfort or social standing.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 20:9 If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.
- Lamentations 3:14 I am a laughingstock to all my people; they mock me in song all day long.
- Hosea 9:7 The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived—let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and hostility.
- Psalms 22:6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
- Ezekiel 3:14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.
- Psalms 69:9 because zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.
- Exodus 5:22 So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me?
- Numbers 11:11 So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people?
- 2 Kings 2:23 From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”
- Psalms 35:15 But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.