Jeremiah 20:18

Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?

JPS TaNaKH 1917

In The King James Version

Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

In Context

17Because He slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.

Read all of Jeremiah 20

Cross References

Genesis 3:16Unto the woman He said: 'I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy travail; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.'

Job 3:20Wherewith is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul —

Job 14:13Oh that Thou wouldest hide me in the nether-world, that Thou wouldest keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past, that Thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! —

Psalms 90:9For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath; we bring our years to an end as a tale that is told.

Isaiah 51:7Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear ye not the taunt of men, neither be ye dismayed at their revilings.

Jeremiah 15:18Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, so that it refuseth to be healed? Wilt Thou indeed be unto me as a deceitful brook, as waters that fail?

Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 20:15-18

The Prophet's Impatient Appeal. ( b. c. 600.) 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… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Jeremiah 20:18