¶Cursed be the day when I was born; May the day when my mother gave birth to me not be blessed!
Parallel translations
- WEB Cursed is the day in which I was born. Don’t let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.
- KJV Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
- BSB Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.
- NKJV Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
- NLT Yet I curse the day I was born! May no one celebrate the day of my birth.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jeremiah curses the day of his birth in deep anguish. His honest despair shows the heavy weight of his calling.
Overview
In stark contrast to the preceding praise, the prophet cries out in sorrow, wishing his birthday had never been blessed. This raw lament, echoing Job (Job 3:3), reveals the genuine darkness a faithful servant may endure. Scripture records such anguish without endorsing despair, showing that even great believers struggle, and that their pain is met by a God who hears and sustains them through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Jer 15:10Woe 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 everyone of them curses me.
- Job 3:3–16“Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, ‘There is a boy conceived.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 20:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.