Single lesson
Jeremiah 20: Jeremiah’s Complaint
Jeremiah 20:7–18
In this passage, Jeremiah speaks directly to Yahweh about the pain of his calling. His words move from mockery and pressure, to confidence in Yahweh, and then to deep sorrow about his own birth.
Before you teach
These verses are a complaint and prayer within Jeremiah’s prophetic message. The passage itself shows that speaking Yahweh’s word has brought Jeremiah mockery, reproach and danger. It also shows his conviction that Yahweh sees truly, tests the righteous and delivers the needy.
Explain the central teaching of Jeremiah 20: Jeremiah’s Complaint, using two details from the reading. Jeremiah 20:7–18 shows that a servant of Yahweh may speak honestly about deep suffering while still recognising Yahweh’s power and justice.
Welcome: Jeremiah 20: Jeremiah’s Complaint
5 minIntroduce “Jeremiah’s Complaint” and locate Jeremiah 20:7–18. Jeremiah 20:7–18 shows that a servant of Yahweh may speak honestly about deep suffering while still recognising Yahweh’s power and justice. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Jeremiah 20:7, Jeremiah 20:13, Jeremiah 20:18
Read and explain the passage
12 minJeremiah says Yahweh has persuaded him, yet that calling has made him a laughingstock. When he speaks, his message is a cry about “Violence and destruction”. Because he speaks Yahweh’s word, people treat him with reproach and derision all day. The passage presents the cost of speaking this message.
Jeremiah hears defaming words, even from familiar friends who watch for his fall and hope to prevail over him. Yet he answers that Yahweh is with him as an awesome mighty one. He calls Yahweh the one who tests the righteous and sees heart and mind, and he entrusts his cause to him.
Jeremiah says, “Sing to Yahweh! Praise Yahweh,” because Yahweh delivers the needy from evildoers. Yet the passage then turns sharply into grief. He curses the day of his birth and the man who announced it, and asks why he came from the womb to see labour, sorrow and shame.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “Jeremiah’s Complaint”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Jeremiah 20:7, Jeremiah 20:8, Jeremiah 20:10, Jeremiah 20:11, Jeremiah 20:12, Jeremiah 20:13, Jeremiah 20:14, Jeremiah 20:15, Jeremiah 20:16, Jeremiah 20:17, Jeremiah 20:18
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What words show the effect Jeremiah’s message has on how people treat him?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. Jeremiah 20:7–18 shows that a servant of Yahweh may speak honestly about deep suffering while still recognising Yahweh’s power and justice. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Jeremiah 20:7, Jeremiah 20:8, Jeremiah 20:9, Jeremiah 20:13, Jeremiah 20:14, Jeremiah 20:18
Make and respond: Vision and message evidence map
12 minWork on “Jeremiah 20: Jeremiah’s Complaint: Vision and message evidence map”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “Jeremiah’s Complaint” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Jeremiah 20:7, Jeremiah 20:13, Jeremiah 20:18
Closing: return to Jeremiah’s Complaint
3 minRevisit Jeremiah 20:7–18. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Jeremiah’s Complaint and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Jeremiah 20:7, Jeremiah 20:13, Jeremiah 20:18
Questions to explore
What words show the effect Jeremiah’s message has on how people treat him?
Look for the repeated descriptions of mockery, reproach and derision that follow his speaking.
Jeremiah 20:7, Jeremiah 20:8
What image does Jeremiah use for the word he tries not to speak, and what does that image suggest?
Notice the comparison to a burning fire in his bones and his weariness in holding it in.
Jeremiah 20:9
How does the passage place praise and despair next to each other?
Compare Jeremiah’s call to praise Yahweh for delivering the needy with his later curses on the day of his birth.
Jeremiah 20:13, Jeremiah 20:14, Jeremiah 20:18
Make, think or respond
Jeremiah 20: Jeremiah’s Complaint: Vision and message evidence map
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “What the passage describes”, “What is explained in the text”, “What question remains”.
- Read Jeremiah 20:7–18. Use “Jeremiah’s Complaint” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Circle an explanation the passage itself provides. Leave unexplained details as questions for further reading.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Jeremiah 20: Jeremiah’s Complaint connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “Jeremiah’s Complaint” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Jeremiah 20:7–18. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Jeremiah 20:7–18. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Jeremiah 20
7 Yahweh, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded. You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day. Everyone mocks me.
8 For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, “Violence and destruction!” because Yahweh’s word has been made a reproach to me, and a derision, all day.
9 If I say that I will not make mention of him, or speak any more in his name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones. I am weary with holding it in. I can’t.
10 For I have heard the defaming of many: “Terror on every side! Denounce, and we will denounce him!” say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall. “Perhaps he will be persuaded, and we will prevail against him, and we will take our revenge on him.”
11 But Yahweh is with me as an awesome mighty one. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they won’t prevail. They will be utterly disappointed because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which will never be forgotten.
12 But Yahweh of Armies, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for I have revealed my cause to you.
13 Sing to Yahweh! Praise Yahweh, for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers.
14 Cursed is the day in which I was born. Don’t let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.
15 Cursed is the man who brought news to my father, saying, “A boy is born to you,” making him very glad.
16 Let that man be as the cities which Yahweh overthrew, and didn’t repent. Let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime,
17 because he didn’t kill me from the womb. So my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
18 Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.