I said,“ Oh, mother, how I regret that you ever gave birth to me! I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land. I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone. Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.”

我的母亲哪，我有祸了！因你生我作为遍地相争相竞的人。我素来没有借贷与人，人也没有借贷与我，人人却都咒骂我。

我的母亲哪，我有祸了！因你生我作全地争相指控的人。我素来没有借贷给人，人也没有借贷给我，人人却都咒骂我。

我的母亲哪，我有祸了！因你生我作全地争相指控的人。我素来没有借贷给人，人也没有借贷给我，人人却都咒骂我。

母亲啊，我真不幸，因为你生了我这个跟全犹大争论、激辩的人。我没有向人借贷，也没有借贷给人，然而人人都咒骂我。

我母亲哪！我有祸了，因为你生了我，这个跟全地相争相斗的人。我从没有借钱给人，也没有向人借钱，可是人人都咒骂我。

我的母親哪，我有禍了！因你生我作為遍地相爭相競的人。我素來沒有借貸與人，人也沒有借貸與我，人人卻都咒罵我。

我的母親哪，我有禍了！因你生我作全地爭相指控的人。我素來沒有借貸給人，人也沒有借貸給我，人人卻都咒罵我。

我的母親哪，我有禍了！因你生我作全地爭相指控的人。我素來沒有借貸給人，人也沒有借貸給我，人人卻都咒罵我。

母親啊，我真不幸，因為你生了我這個跟全猶大爭論、激辯的人。我沒有向人借貸，也沒有借貸給人，然而人人都咒罵我。

我母親哪！我有禍了，因為你生了我，這個跟全地相爭相鬥的人。我從沒有借錢給人，也沒有向人借錢，可是人人都咒罵我。

我母親哪，我有禍了，你生了我做對遍地吵鬧紛爭的人！我素來沒有拿錢借給人來取利息，人也沒有拿錢借給我來取利，然而人人都咒罵我。

我母歟、禍哉我也、爾之生我、為全地喜爭好競之人、我未貸金於人、人亦未貸金於我、然彼皆詛我、

耶利米曰、哀哉我母、何為產我、為通國之人所攻、我未貸眾以金、眾未貸我以金、藉權子母、而人莫不詛予。

先知自言曰、哀哉、我母何為生我、通國之人攻我、而與我爭、我未貸金於人、人亦未貸金於我、而人莫不詛我、

Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man with whom the whole land strives and contends! I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

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.

Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.

Then I said,“ What sorrow is mine, my mother. Oh, that I had died at birth! I am hated everywhere I go. I am neither a lender who threatens to foreclose nor a borrower who refuses to pay— yet they all curse me.”

Woe is me, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man who incites dispute and conflict in all the land. I did not lend or borrow, yet everyone curses me.

Woe to me, my mother, that you have given birth to me As a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land! I have not lent, nor have people lent money to me, Yet everyone curses me.

Woe is me, my mother, That you have borne me, A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent for interest, Nor have men lent to me for interest. Every one of them curses me.

Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent, neither have men lent to me; yet every one of them doth curse me.

Woe is me, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man who incites dispute and conflict in all the land. I did not lend or borrow, yet everyone curses me.

Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury;[ yet] every one of them doth curse me.

Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife, and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent, neither have men lent to me; yet every one of them curses me.

“ If you lend money to any of my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender to him; do not charge him interest.

LORD, you coerced me into being a prophet, and I allowed you to do it. You overcame my resistance and prevailed over me. Now I have become a constant laughingstock. Everyone ridicules me.For whenever I prophesy, I must cry out,“ Violence and destruction are coming!” This message from the LORD has made me an object of continual insults and derision.

I, the LORD, hereby promise to make you as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in the land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and all the people of the land.They will attack you but they will not be able to overcome you, for I will be with you to rescue you,” says the LORD.

He does not charge interest when he lends his money. He does not take bribes to testify against the innocent. The one who lives like this will never be upended.

I will make you as strong as a wall to these people, a fortified wall of bronze. They will attack you, but they will not be able to overcome you. For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you,” says the LORD.

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.Job spoke up and said:“ Let the day on which I was born perish, and the night that said,‘ A man has been conceived!’That day– let it be darkness; let not God on high regard it, nor let light shine on it!Let darkness and the deepest shadow claim it; let a cloud settle on it; let whatever blackens the day terrify it!That night– let darkness seize it; let it not be included among the days of the year; let it not enter among the number of the months!Indeed, let that night be barren; let no shout of joy penetrate it!Let those who curse the day curse it– those who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.Let its morning stars be darkened; let it wait for daylight but find none, nor let it see the first rays of dawn,because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb on me, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes!“ Why did I not die at birth, and why did I not expire as I came out of the womb?Why did the knees welcome me, and why were there two breasts that I might nurse at them?For now I would be lying down and would be quiet, I would be asleep and then at peacewith kings and counselors of the earth who built for themselves places now desolate,or with princes who possessed gold, who filled their palaces with silver.Or why was I not buried like a stillborn infant, like infants who have never seen the light?There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.There the prisoners relax together; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.Small and great are there, and the slave is free from his master.“ Why does God give light to one who is in misery, and life to those whose soul is bitter,to those who wait for death that does not come, and search for it more than for hidden treasures,who rejoice even to jubilation, and are exultant when they find the grave?Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?For my sighing comes in place of my food, and my groanings flow forth like water.For the very thing I dreaded has happened to me, and what I feared has come upon me.I have no ease, I have no quietness; I cannot rest; turmoil has come upon me.”

But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words– even though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions– do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, for they are a rebellious house!You must speak my words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.

When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said,“ These men are throwing our city into confusion. They are Jewsand are advocating customs that are not lawful for us to accept or practice, since we are Romans.”The crowd joined the attack against them, and the magistrates tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be beaten with rods.

Like a fluttering bird or like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause does not come to rest.

The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat,“ There is still one man through whom we can seek the LORD’s will. But I despise him because he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but disaster. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah. Jehoshaphat said,“ The king should not say such things.”

When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him,“ So, you have found me, my enemy!” Elijah replied,“ I have found you, because you are committed to doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him,“ Is it really you, the one who brings disaster on Israel?”Elijah replied,“ I have not brought disaster on Israel. But you and your father’s dynasty have, by abandoning the LORD’s commandments and following the Baals.

For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to die, because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to people.We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, we are dishonored!To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed, brutally treated, and without a roof over our heads.We do hard work, toiling with our own hands. When we are verbally abused, we respond with a blessing, when persecuted, we endure,when people lie about us, we answer in a friendly manner. We are the world’s dirt and scum, even now.

You must not charge interest on a loan to your fellow Israelite, whether on money, food, or anything else that has been loaned with interest.You may lend with interest to a foreigner, but not to your fellow Israelite; if you keep this command the LORD your God will bless you in all you undertake in the land you are about to enter to possess.

Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary,“ Listen carefully: This child is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected.

“ Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject you as evil on account of the Son of Man!

But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you,

Cursed be the day I was born! May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me.Cursed be the man who made my father very glad when he brought him the news that a baby boy had been born to him!May that man be like the cities that the LORD destroyed without showing any mercy. May he hear a cry of distress in the morning and a battle cry at noon.For he did not kill me before I came from the womb, making my pregnant mother’s womb my grave forever.Why did I ever come forth from my mother’s womb? All I experience is trouble and grief, and I spend my days in shame.

He gathered these together, along with the workmen in similar trades, and said,“ Men, you know that our prosperity comes from this business.And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded and turned away a large crowd, not only in Ephesus but in practically all of the province of Asia, by saying that gods made by hands are not gods at all.There is danger not only that this business of ours will come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be regarded as nothing, and she whom all the province of Asia and the world worship will suffer the loss of her greatness.”When they heard this they became enraged and began to shout,“ Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

But we would like to hear from you what you think, for regarding this sect we know that people everywhere speak against it.”

But the house of Israel is unwilling to listen to you, because they are not willing to listen to me, for the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.“ I have made your face adamant to match their faces, and your forehead hard to match their foreheads.I have made your forehead harder than flint– like diamond! Do not fear them or be terrified of the looks they give you, for they are a rebellious house.”

“ Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name.

How miserable I am! For I have lived temporarily in Meshech; I have resided among the tents of Kedar.For too long I have had to reside with those who hate peace.

So Paul entered the synagogue and spoke out fearlessly for three months, addressing and convincing them about the kingdom of God.But when some were stubborn and refused to believe, reviling the Way before the congregation, he left them and took the disciples with him, addressing them every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

“ Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against parents and have them put to death.And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.Whenever they persecute you in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Do not take interest or profit from him, but you must fear your God and your brother must live with you.

When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, screaming,“ These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world have come here too,and Jason has welcomed them as guests! They are all acting against Caesar’s decrees, saying there is another king named Jesus!”They caused confusion among the crowd and the city officials who heard these things.

They curse, but you will bless. When they attack, they will be humiliated, but your servant will rejoice.

Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.There were those who said,“ With our sons and daughters, we are many. We must obtain grain in order to eat and stay alive.”There were others who said,“ We are putting up our fields, our vineyards, and our houses as collateral in order to obtain grain during the famine.”Then there were those who said,“ We have borrowed money to pay our taxes to the king on our fields and our vineyards.And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, and our children are just like their children, still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.”I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints.