KJV ORIGINAL
Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.
Close to the original. Clear modern English.
✦ MADE SIMPLE
Why didn't God let me die before I was born, so that my mother's womb could have been my grave, and she would have stayed pregnant with me forever?
⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE
Jeremiah is expressing such deep anguish that he wishes he had never been born at all.
📚 Historical Context
This comes from one of Jeremiah's most emotionally raw prayers, often called his 'confessions.' He had been imprisoned and tortured for delivering God's unpopular messages of coming judgment to Judah. The prophet felt overwhelmed by the hostility he faced and the weight of his calling during this dark period before Jerusalem's destruction.
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