Saturday, August 30, 2014

Sunday Knox: Jeremiah 20:7-9

Knox:
Lord, thou hast sent me on a fool’s errand; if I played a fool’s part, a strength greater than mine overmastered me; morn to night, what a laughing-stock am I, every man’s nay-word!  Long have I prophesied, and still I clamoured against men’s wickedness, and still cried ruin; day in, day out, nothing it earns me, this divine spokesmanship, but reproach and mockery.  Did I essay to put the Lord out of my thoughts, and speak no more in his name, all at once it seemed as though a raging fire were locked in my bosom, pierced my whole frame, till I was worn out with it, and could bear no more. 



NAB:
You duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped;
you were too strong for me, and you triumphed.
All the day I am an object of laughter;
everyone mocks me.

Whenever I speak, I must cry out,
violence and outrage is my message;
the word of the LORD has brought me
derision and reproach all the day.

I say to myself, I will not mention him,
I will speak in his name no more.
But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart,
imprisoned in my bones;
I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.




The Message:
You pushed me into this, God, and I let you do it.
    You were too much for me.
And now I’m a public joke.
    They all poke fun at me.
Every time I open my mouth
    I’m shouting, “Murder!” or “Rape!”
And all I get for my God-warnings
    are insults and contempt.
But if I say, “Forget it!
    No more God-Messages from me!”
The words are fire in my belly,
    a burning in my bones.
I’m worn out trying to hold it in.
    I can’t do it any longer!

5 comments:

David said...

This is one of those readings that makes me cringe when I hear it. "Duped" was such a poor word choice by the translators of the old NAB. It sounds so informal and out of place when paired with the formality of the way the Lord is addressed.

rolf said...

The NABRE changed this verse to:
'You seduced me, Lord, and I let myself be seduced; you were too strong for me, and you prevailed.'

Jonny said...

Rolf: "seduced" is also in the original 1609 Douay Bible, see the Clementine Vulgate as well.

Unknown said...

Strange that at Mass on Sunday, "duped" was the word read from the lectionary. Why does the lectionary still contain the old OT wording rather than the updated wording of the NABRE?? I thought it was revised?

Jonny said...

Hi David: the short answer to your question is that the NABRE is not approved for liturgical use.

The NAB is again going through the long process of being revised to meet liturgical standards of Liturgicam Authenticam that were set forth after the current NABRE OT translation was completed in 2001. The NABRE Psalms were extensively modified to meet these standards but by the time they were approved in 2010, the Revised Grail Psalter was already exclusively approved for use in any new English lectionaries.

The next NABRE is going to have a modified OT, revised NT, and feature the revised Grail Psalms. It will be overall a more accurate and consistent translation and be the same in the Bible, Mass, and LOTH. I don't expect the current lectionary to change at all until this project is fully completed.