Lord, you have seen the wrong things people have done to me. Stand up for me again!

耶和华啊，你见了我受的委屈；求你为我伸冤。

耶和华啊，你已看见我的委屈，求你为我主持正义。

耶和华啊，你已看见我的委屈，求你为我主持正义。

耶和华啊，你已明察我的冤情，求你为我主持公道。

耶和华啊，你看见了我的冤屈，求你为我主持公道。

耶和華啊，你見了我受的委屈；求你為我伸冤。

耶和華啊，你已看見我的委屈，求你為我主持正義。

耶和華啊，你已看見我的委屈，求你為我主持正義。

耶和華啊，你已明察我的冤情，求你為我主持公道。

耶和華啊，你看見了我的冤屈，求你為我主持公道。

如今永恆主啊，你見了我受的委屈了；證顯我理直哦！

耶和華歟、爾鑒我之屈抑、祈爾理我獄兮、

我受屈抑、耶和華鑒之、伸我之冤兮。

我受冤屈、為主所見、求主為我伸明、

Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me. Uphold my cause!

You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; judge my cause.

You have seen the wrong they have done to me, Lord. Be my judge, and prove me right.

LORD, you saw the wrong done to me; judge my case.

Lord, You have seen my oppression; Judge my case.

O Lord, You have seen how I am wronged; Judge my case.

O Jehovah, thou hast seen my wrong; judge thou my cause.

Lord, You see the wrong done to me; judge my case.

O LORD, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.

You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; pronounce judgment on my behalf!

Yahweh, you have seen my wrong. Judge my cause.

My God, when you hand down your decision, let it be in my favor. Stand up for me against an unfaithful nation. Save me from those lying and sinful people.

Wake up! Rise up to help me! My God and Lord, stand up for me.

Lord, when you hand down your sentence, let it be in my favor. I have lived without blame. I have trusted in the Lord. I have never doubted him.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, appointed Zedekiah to be king of Judah. He was the son of Josiah. Zedekiah ruled in place of Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim.Zedekiah and his attendants didn’t pay any attention to what the Lord had said through Jeremiah the prophet. And the people of the land didn’t pay any attention either.But King Zedekiah sent Jehukal to Jeremiah the prophet. Zedekiah sent Zephaniah the priest along with him. Jehukal was the son of Shelemiah. Zephaniah was the son of Maaseiah. Jehukal and Zephaniah brought the king’s message to Jeremiah. It said,“ Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”At that time Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people. Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison.The armies of Babylon were attacking Jerusalem. They received a report that Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt to help Zedekiah. So armies of Babylon pulled back from Jerusalem.A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah.The Lord is the God of Israel. He says,“ The king of Judah has sent you to ask me for advice. Tell him,‘ Pharaoh’s army has marched out to help you. But it will go back to its own land. It will return to Egypt.Then the armies of Babylon will come back here. They will attack this city. They will capture it. Then they will burn it down.’“ The Lord says,‘ Do not fool yourselves. You think,“ The Babylonians will leave us alone.” But they will not!Suppose you destroy all the armies of Babylon that are attacking you. Suppose only wounded men are left in their tents. Even then they will come out and burn down this city.’ ”The armies of Babylon had pulled back from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army.So Jeremiah started to leave the city. He was planning to go to the territory of Benjamin. Jeremiah wanted to get his share of the property among the people there.He got as far as the Benjamin Gate. But the captain of the guard arrested him. He said,“ You are going over to the side of the Babylonians!” The captain’s name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah. Shelemiah was the son of Hananiah.Jeremiah said to Irijah,“ That isn’t true! I’m not going to the side of the Babylonians.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen to him. Instead, he arrested Jeremiah. He brought Jeremiah to the officials.They were angry with him. So they had him beaten. Then they took him to the house of Jonathan the secretary. It had been made into a prison. That’s where they put Jeremiah.Jeremiah was put into a prison cell below ground level. He remained there a long time.Then King Zedekiah sent for him. King Zedekiah had Jeremiah brought to the palace. There the king spoke to him in private. The king asked,“ Do you have a message from the Lord for me?”“ Yes,” Jeremiah replied.“ You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”Then Jeremiah continued,“ Why have you put me in prison? What crime have I committed against you? What have I done to your attendants or these people?Where are your prophets who prophesied to you? They said,‘ The king of Babylon won’t attack you. He won’t march into this land.’But now please listen, my king and master. Let me make my appeal to you. Please don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary. If you do, I’ll die there.”Then King Zedekiah gave the order. His men put Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard. They gave him a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers. They did it every day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

You have proved that I haven’t done anything wrong. You have sat on your throne and judged fairly.

They said,“ Come on. Let’s make plans against Jeremiah. We’ll still have priests to teach us the law. We’ll always have wise people to give us advice. We’ll have prophets to bring us messages from the Lord. So come on. Let’s speak out against Jeremiah. We shouldn’t pay any attention to what he says.”Lord, please listen to me! Hear what my enemies are saying about me!Should the good things I’ve done be paid back with evil? But my enemies have dug a pit for me. Remember that I stood in front of you and spoke up for them. I tried to turn your anger away from them.So let their children die of hunger. Let my enemies be killed in war. Let their wives lose their children and husbands. Let their men be put to death. Let their young men be killed in battle.Bring their enemies against them without warning. Let cries be heard from their houses. They have dug a pit to capture me. They have hidden traps for my feet.But Lord, you know all about their plans to kill me. Don’t forgive their crimes. Don’t erase their sins from your sight. Destroy my enemies. Punish them when the time to show your anger comes.

My mother, I wish I had never been born! The whole land opposes me. They fight against me. I haven’t made loans to anyone. And I haven’t borrowed anything. But everyone curses me anyway.

I had been like a gentle lamb led off to be killed. I didn’t realize they had made plans against me. They had said,“ Let’s destroy the tree and its fruit. Let’s take away his life. Then his name won’t be remembered anymore.”But Lord, you rule over all. You always judge fairly. You test people’s hearts and minds. So pay them back for what they’ve done. I’ve committed my cause to you.The Lord says,“ Jeremiah, here is what I am telling you about the people of Anathoth. They say they’re going to kill you. They are saying,‘ Don’t prophesy in the Lord’ s name. If you do, we will kill you with our own hands.’ ”

You tricked me, Lord, and I was tricked. You overpowered me and won. People make fun of me all day long. Everyone laughs at me.Every time I speak, I cry out. All you ever tell me to talk about is fighting and trouble. Your message has brought me nothing but dishonor. It has made me suffer shame all day long.Sometimes I think,“ I won’t talk about his message anymore. I’ll never speak in his name again.” But then your message burns in my heart. It’s like a fire deep inside my bones. I’m tired of holding it in. In fact, I can’t.I hear many people whispering,“ There is terror on every side! Bring charges against Jeremiah! Let’s bring charges against him!” All my friends are waiting for me to slip. They are saying,“ Perhaps he will be tricked into making a mistake. Then we’ll win out over him. We’ll get even with him.”

But the God of my father was with me. He is the God of Abraham and the God Isaac worshiped. If he hadn’t been with me, you would surely have sent me away without anything to show for all my work. But God has seen my hard times. He has seen all the work my hands have done. So last night he warned you.”

Lord, stand up against those who stand up against me. Fight against those who fight against me.

People shouted at him and made fun of him. But he didn’t do the same thing back to them. When he suffered, he didn’t say he would make them suffer. Instead, he trusted in the God who judges fairly.