耶利米書21: 1-7

21:1 耶和華的話臨到耶利米。那時，西底家王打發瑪基雅的兒子巴施戶珥和瑪西雅的兒子祭司西番雅去見耶利米，說：

21:2 「請你為我們求問耶和華；因為巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒來攻擊我們，或者耶和華照他一切奇妙的作為待我們，使巴比倫王離開我們上去。」

21:3 耶利米對他們說：「你們當對西底家這樣說：

21:4 『耶和華─以色列的上帝如此說：我要使你們手中的兵器，就是你們在城外與巴比倫王和圍困你們的迦勒底人打仗的兵器翻轉過來，又要使這些都聚集在這城中。

21:5 並且我要在怒氣、忿怒，和大惱恨中，用伸出來的手，並大能的膀臂，親自攻擊你們；

21:6 又要擊打這城的居民，連人帶牲畜都必遭遇大瘟疫死亡。

21:7 以後我要將猶大王西底家和他的臣僕百姓，就是在城內，從瘟疫、刀劍、饑荒中剩下的人，都交在巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒的手中和他們仇敵，並尋索其命的人手中。巴比倫王必用刀擊殺他們，不顧惜，不可憐，不憐憫。這是耶和華說的。』

​​This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying,  “Inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”

  Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah,   ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city.  I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath.  And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence.  Afterward, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

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    在這裡我們看見猶大國的國王將先知當成說預言的人，向他問未來面對巴比倫帝國的結果。這種方式其實是誤解了「先知」的意義了！上帝透過先知說話，說出祂的心意，是要人遵行祂的律法，回到祂的面前，過上帝子民的生活。也因此，上帝給先知耶利米向猶大說的話是凶信，而不是吉言！也就是說，上帝給國王的話，不是他所期盼的！

    對基督徒而言，我們都喜歡聽好聽和積極的話，所謂說正面的話、鼓勵的話。其實上帝的話除了積極和正面之外，也有消極和負面，甚至是責備與咒罵的話，要我們認清自己是有罪且會滅亡的！若沒有這樣的認識，我們就不會珍惜與渴望耶穌基督在十字架上的救恩。

    也因此，牧者不是迎合聽眾說聽眾喜歡的話，而是要滿足上帝的心意，用責備和提醒的話，使弟兄姊妹回頭，不要沉溺在無知的罪中，還自以為自己是得救的，是蒙賜福的！因此，傳道人要勇敢地說出上帝的呼籲和警告，使世人歸回，離棄罪惡。

耶利米書20:7-18

20:7 耶和華啊，你曾勸導我，我也聽了你的勸導。你比我有力量，且勝了我。我終日成為笑話，人人都戲弄我。

20:8 我每逢講論的時候，就發出哀聲，我喊叫說：有強暴和毀滅！因為耶和華的話終日成了我的凌辱、譏刺。

20:9 我若說：我不再提耶和華，也不再奉他的名講論，我便心裡覺得似乎有燒著的火閉塞在我骨中，我就含忍不住，不能自禁。

20:10 我聽見了許多人的讒謗，四圍都是驚嚇；就是我知己的朋友也都窺探我，願我跌倒，說：告他吧，我們也要告他！或者他被引誘，我們就能勝他，在他身上報仇。

20:11 然而，耶和華與我同在，好像甚可怕的勇士。因此，逼迫我的必都絆跌，不能得勝；他們必大大蒙羞，就是受永不忘記的羞辱，因為他們行事沒有智慧。

20:12 試驗義人、察看人肺腑心腸的萬軍之耶和華啊，求你容我見你在他們身上報仇，因我將我的案件向你稟明了。

20:13 你們要向耶和華唱歌；讚美耶和華！因他救了窮人的性命脫離惡人的手。

20:14 願我生的那日受咒詛；願我母親產我的那日不蒙福！

20:15 給我父親報信說「你得了兒子」，使我父親甚歡喜的，願那人受咒詛。

20:16 願那人像耶和華所傾覆而不後悔的城邑；願他早晨聽見哀聲，晌午聽見吶喊；

20:17 因他在我未出胎的時候不殺我，使我母親成了我的墳墓，胎就時常重大。

20:18 我為何出胎見勞碌愁苦，使我的年日因羞愧消滅呢？

​​O Lord, you have deceived me,

and I was deceived;

you are stronger than I,

and you have prevailed.

I have become a laughingstock all the day;

everyone mocks me.

  For whenever I speak, I cry out,

I shout, “Violence and destruction!”

For the word of the Lord has become for me

a reproach and derision all day long.

  If I say, “I will not mention him,

or speak any more in his name,”

there is in my heart as it were a burning fire

shut up in my bones,

and I am weary with holding it in,

and I cannot.

For I hear many whispering.

Terror is on every side!

“Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”

say all my close friends,

watching for my fall.

“Perhaps he will be deceived;

then we can overcome him

and take our revenge on him.”

  But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;

therefore my persecutors will stumble;

they will not overcome me.

They will be greatly shamed,

for they will not succeed.

Their eternal dishonor

will never be forgotten.

O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,

who sees the heart and the mind,

let me see your vengeance upon them,

for to you have I committed my cause.

  Sing to the Lord;

praise the Lord!

For he has delivered the life of the needy

from the hand of evildoers.

  Cursed be the day

on which I was born!

The day when my mother bore me,

let it not be blessed!

  Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,

“A son is born to you,”

making him very glad.

Let that man be like the cities

that the Lord overthrew without pity;

let him hear a cry in the morning

and an alarm at noon,

  because he did not kill me in the womb;

so my mother would have been my grave,

and her womb forever great.

  Why did I come out from the womb

to see toil and sorrow,

and spend my days in shame?

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    先知耶利米在此說出蒙召做先知的壓力，這對每一個傳道人而言也是如此，怪不得有信仰的前輩說到：要逃避被上帝呼召成為傳道人，如同逃避地獄的火一般，因為這不是一個好差事！

    以前不知，現在知道了！但是，不會因為一時沒有地方牧會就放棄這樣的呼召，還是心中堅持。因為，這一些苦楚比起耶穌基督的恩典，是算不得什麼的！我們豈可為這一點點的苦楚，而放棄上帝的浩恩呢？就像某個汽車製造廠，生意好的時候，有時幾個月的年終獎金，我想沒有人因為工作有點辛苦而放棄的！

    親愛的同工們，雖然為主工作是勞苦的，要認受人無法忍受的，要承擔超乎自己感覺能承擔的，但是上帝是信實的、慈愛的，我們不會一直勞苦下去！但是，在勞苦中有主的同在，那是美好無比的，求主也快快給我教會來牧養！

耶利米書20章

     耶利米書20:1-6   ,

     耶利米書20:7-18   ,

      耶利米書20:9  ,  耶利米書20:11  ,

耶利米書20:1-6

20:1 祭司音麥的兒子巴施戶珥作耶和華殿的總管，聽見耶利米預言這些事，

20:2 他就打先知耶利米，用耶和華殿裡便雅憫高門內的枷，將他枷在那裡。

20:3 次日，巴施戶珥將耶利米開枷釋放。於是耶利米對他說：「耶和華不是叫你的名為巴施戶珥，乃是叫你瑪歌珥‧米撒畢（就是四面驚嚇的意思），

20:4 因耶和華如此說：『我必使你自覺驚嚇，你也必使眾朋友驚嚇；他們必倒在仇敵的刀下，你也必親眼看見；我必將猶大人全交在巴比倫王的手中，他要將他們擄到巴比倫去，也要用刀將他們殺戮。

20:5 並且我要將這城中的一切貨財和勞碌得來的，並一切珍寶，以及猶大君王所有的寶物，都交在他們仇敵的手中；仇敵要當作掠物帶到巴比倫去。

20:6 你這巴施戶珥和一切住在你家中的人都必被擄去；你和你的眾朋友，就是你向他們說假預言的，都必到巴比倫去，要死在那裡，葬在那裡。』」

​​Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.  Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord.  The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side.  For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword.  Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon.  And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.”

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     “巴施戶珥”這個名字的意思是 "自由"，不僅如此上帝還讓他作耶和華殿的總管，是很有地位的人。但是他卻惡待上帝的先知，不只打先知耶利米，又用耶和華殿裡便雅憫高門內的枷，將他枷在那裡。所以，耶利米像他宣告：「耶和華不是叫你的名為巴施戶珥，乃是叫你瑪歌珥‧米撒畢（就是四面驚嚇的意思）。」

    說到這裡讓我們想到教會中有重要職務的兄姊們，要以此為戒！上帝給諸位有權柄治理教會，不是讓您任意而為，滿足個人的私利或私慾，而是要讓上帝的旨意成全，讓弟兄姊妹和傳道人獲得照顧，因為上帝的心意乃是要讓弱勢者得照顧與扶持，好讓人感受到上帝的恩典。若是按己意而為，害人咒罵上帝，這樣上帝會來向您追討的，不能不謹慎！

    而先知耶利米更在此宣告：「我要將這城中的一切貨財和勞碌得來的，並一切珍寶，以及猶大君王所有的寶物，都交在他們仇敵的手中；仇敵要當作掠物帶到巴比倫去。你這巴施戶珥和一切住在你家中的人都必被擄去；你和你的眾朋友，就是你向他們說假預言的，都必到巴比倫去，要死在那裡，葬在那裡。」

    這也告訴我們上帝決不寬貸那些在教會中治理和有權的人！要是他們不照上帝的心意行：行公義、好憐憫，不存謙卑的心與上帝同行，又不願意以基督耶穌為教會的元首，上帝就必追討！