Jeremiah 15:10
New International Version
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.

New Living Translation
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.”

English Standard Version
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.

Berean Standard Bible
Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
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.

New American Standard Bible
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.

NASB 1995
Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me As a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land! I have not lent, nor have men lent money to me, Yet everyone curses me.

NASB 1977
Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me As a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land! I have neither lent, nor have men lent money to me, Yet everyone curses me.

Legacy Standard Bible
Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me As a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land! I have not lent, nor have men lent money to me, Yet everyone curses me.

Amplified Bible
Woe to me, my mother, that you have given birth to me To be a man of strife and a man of contention to all the earth! I have not loaned, nor have men lent money to me, Yet everyone curses me.

Christian Standard Bible
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.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
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.

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Woe to me, my mother, for you gave me birth as a man of strife, and a rebuking man in all the land! I am not in debt and they are not indebted to me, and all are abusive to me!”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Woe is me, my mother! thou hast born me as some man of strife, and at variance with the whole earth; I have not helped others, nor has any one helped me; my strength has failed among them that curse me.

Contemporary English Version
I wish I had never been born! I'm always in trouble with everyone in Judah. I never lend or borrow money, but everyone curses me just the same.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Woe is me, my mother: why hast thou borne me a man of strife, a man of contention to all the earth? I have not lent on usury, neither hath any man lent to me on usury: yet all curse me.

English Revised Version
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 on usury, neither have men lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I'm so miserable! Why did my mother give birth to me? I am a man who argues and quarrels with the whole earth. I have never lent or borrowed anything. Yet, everyone curses me.

Good News Translation
What an unhappy man I am! Why did my mother bring me into the world? I have to quarrel and argue with everyone in the land. I have not lent any money or borrowed any; yet everyone curses me.

International Standard Version
How terrible for me, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man of strife and contention for the whole land! I've neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

JPS Tanakh 1917
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.

Literal Standard Version
Woe to me, my mother, | For you have borne me, | A man of strife and a man of contention to all the land, | I have not lent on usury, | Nor have they lent on usury to me—All of them are reviling me.

Majority Standard Bible
Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

New American Bible
Woe to me, my mother, that you gave me birth! a man of strife and contention to all the land! I neither borrow nor lend, yet everyone curses me.

NET Bible
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."

New Revised Standard Version
Woe is me, my mother, that you ever 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.

New Heart English Bible
"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 everyone of them curses me."

Webster's Bible Translation
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 have men lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

World English Bible
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.

Young's Literal Translation
Woe to me, my mother, For thou hast borne me a man of strife, And a man of contention to all the land, I have not lent on usury, Nor have they lent on usury to me -- All of them are reviling me.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jeremiah's Woe
10Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me. 11The LORD said: “Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will intercede with your enemy in your time of trouble, in your time of distress.…

Cross References
Exodus 22:25
If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest.

Leviticus 25:36
Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.

Leviticus 25:37
You must not lend him your silver at interest or sell him your food for profit.

Deuteronomy 23:19
Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan.

Job 3:1
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

Job 3:3
"May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, 'A boy is conceived.'

Psalm 69:4
Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs of my head; many are those who would destroy me--my enemies for no reason. Though I did not steal, I must repay.


Treasury of Scripture

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 on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them does curse me.

my.

Jeremiah 20:14-18
Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed…

Job 3:1
After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

a man.

Jeremiah 15:20
And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 1:18,19
For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land…

Jeremiah 20:7,8
O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me…

I have.

Exodus 22:25
If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

Deuteronomy 23:19,20
Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: …

Nehemiah 5:1-6
And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews…

curse.

Psalm 109:28
Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice.

Proverbs 26:2
As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.

Matthew 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

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Alas Birth Bore Borne Borrowed Contention Curse Curses Earth Lent Mother Strife Strives Usury Whole Woe
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Alas Birth Bore Borne Borrowed Contention Curse Curses Earth Lent Mother Strife Strives Usury Whole Woe
Jeremiah 15
1. The utter rejection and manifold judgments of the people.
10. Jeremiah, complaining of their spite, receives a promise for himself;
12. and a threatening for them.
15. He prays;
19. and receives a gracious promise.














(10) Woe is me . . .--The abruptness of the transition suggests the thought that we have a distinct fragment which has been merged in the artificial continuity of the chapter. Possibly, as some have thought, Jeremiah 15:10-11 have been misplaced in transcription, and should come after Jeremiah 15:14, where they fit in admirably with the context. The sequence of thought may, however, be that the picture of the sorrowing mother in the previous verses suggests the reflection that there may be other causes for a mother's sorrow than that of which he has spoken, and so he bursts out into the cry, "Woe is me, my mother!" The prophet feels more than ever the awfulness of his calling as a vessel of God's truth. He, too, found that he had come "not to send peace on earth, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). His days were as full of strife as the life of the usurer, whose quarrels with his debtors had become the proverbial type of endless litigation. As examples of the working of the law of debt, see Exodus 22:25; 2Kings 4:1; Proverbs 6:1-5; Isaiah 24:2; Psalm 15:5; Psalm 109:11. . . . Verses 10-21. - These verses come in very unexpectedly, and are certainly not to be regarded as a continuation of the preceding discourse. They describe some deeply pathetic moment of the prophet's inner life, and in all probability belong to a later period of the history of Judah. At any rate, the appreciation of the next chapter will be facilitated by reading it in close connection with Ver. 9 of the present chapter. But the section before us is too impressive to be east adrift without an attempt to find a place for it in the life of the prophet. The attempt has been made with some plausibility by a Jewish scholar, Dr. Gratz, who considers the background of these verses to be the sojourn of Jeremiah at Ramah, referred to in Jeremiah 40:1, and groups them, therefore, with another prophecy (Jeremiah 31:15-17), in which Ramah is mentioned by name as the temporary abode of the Jewish captives. We are told in Jeremiah 40:4, 5, that Jeremiah had the choice given him of either going to Babylon with the exiles, or dwelling with the Jews who were allowed to remain under Gedaliah the governor. He chose, as the narrative in Jeremiah 40. tells us, to stay with Gedaliah; but the narrative could not, in accordance with the reserve which characterizes the inspired writers, reveal the state of mind in which this difficult choice was made. This omission is supplied in the paragraph before us. Jeremiah, with that lyric tendency peculiar to him among the prophets, gives a vent to his emotion in these impassioned verses. He tells his friends that the resolution to go to Gedaliah may cost him a severe struggle. He longs for rest, and in Babylon he would have more chance of a quiet life than among the turbulent Jews at home. But he has looked up to God for guidance, and, however painful to the flesh, God's will must be obeyed. He gives us the substance of the revelation which he received. The Divine counselor points out that he has already interposed in the most striking manner for Jeremiah, and declares that if he will devote himself to the Jews under Gedaliah, a new and fruitful field will be open to him, in which, moreover, by Divine appointment, no harm can happen to him. Whether this is really the background of the paragraph must remain uncertain. In a case of this kind, we are obliged to call in the help of the imagination, if the words of the prophet are to be realized with any degree of vividness. There are some great difficulties in the text, and apparently one interpolation (Vers. 13, 14 being in all probability an incorrect copy of Jeremiah 17:3, 4). Verse 10. - Woe is me, my mother! This is one of those passages (comp. Introduction) which illustrate the sensitive and shrinking character of our prophet.

"If his meek spirit erred, opprest
That God denied repose,
What sin is ours, to whom Heaven's rest
Is pledged to heal earth's woes?"


(Cardinal Newman, in 'Lyra Apostolica,' 88.). I have neither lent on usury, etc.; a speaking figure to men of the ancient world, to whom, as Dr. Payne Smith remarks, "the relations between the money-lender and the debtor were the most fruitful source of lawsuits and quarrellings."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Woe to me,
אֽוֹי־ (’ō·w-)
Interjection
Strong's 188: Lamentation, Oh!

my mother,
אִמִּ֔י (’im·mî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 517: A mother, )

that
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

you have borne me,
יְלִדְתִּ֗נִי (yə·liḏ·ti·nî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person feminine singular | first person common singular
Strong's 3205: To bear young, to beget, medically, to act as midwife, to show lineage

a man
אִ֥ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

of strife
רִ֛יב (rîḇ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7379: Strife, dispute

and conflict
מָד֖וֹן (mā·ḏō·wn)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4066: A contest, quarrel

in all
לְכָל־ (lə·ḵāl)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the land.
הָאָ֑רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

I have neither
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

lent
נָשִׁ֥יתִי (nā·šî·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5383: To lend, borrow on security, interest

nor
וְלֹא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

borrowed,
נָֽשׁוּ־ (nā·šū-)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 5383: To lend, borrow on security, interest

yet everyone
כֻּלֹּ֥ה (kul·lōh)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

curses me.
מְקַלְלַֽונִי׃ (mə·qal·la·w·nî)
Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 7043: To be slight, swift or trifling


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 15:10 Woe is me my mother that you (Jer.)
Jeremiah 15:9
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