In the second stanza, the thought appears to be continued thus: _Thou overcamest me; for as often as I speak_, I am a prophet of evil, _I cry alarm_ (_`ez'aq_; cf. _zĕ`aqah_, vers. 16); I proclaim the imminence of invasion, the _violence and havoc_ of a ruthless conqueror. _Thou overcamest me_ also, in Thy purpose of making me a laughing-stock to my adversaries; _for Iahvah's word is become to me a reproach, and a scoff all the day long_ (the relation between the two halves of the stanza is that of coordination; each gives the reason of the corresponding couplet in the first stanza). His continual threats of a judgment that was still delayed, brought upon him the merciless ridicule of his opponents. Or the prophet may mean to complain that the monotony of his message, his ever-recurring denunciation of prevalent injustice, is made a reproach against him. _For as often as I speak I make an outcry_ of indignation at foul wrongdoing (Gen. iv. 10, xviii. 21, xix. 13); _wrong and robbery do I proclaim_ (Hab. i. 2, 3)--the oppression of the poor by the covetous and luxurious ruling classes. A third view is that Jeremiah complains of the frequent attacks upon himself: _For_ _as often as I speak I have to exclaim; Of assault and violence do I cry_; but the first suggestion appears to suit best, as giving a reason for the ridicule which the prophet finds so intolerable (cf. xvii. 15). The third stanza carries this plea for justice a step further. Not only was the prophet's overwhelming trouble due to his having yielded to the persuasions and promises of Iahvah; not only has he been rewarded with scorn and the scourge and the stocks for his compliance with a Divine call. He has been in a manner forced and driven into his intolerable position by the coercive power of Iahvah, which left him no choice but to utter the word that burnt like a fire within him. Sometimes his fears of perfidy and betrayal suggested the thought of succumbing to the insuperable obstacles which seemed to block his path; of giving up once for all a thankless and fruitless and dangerous enterprise: but then the inward flame burnt so fiercely, that he could find no relief for his anguish but by giving it vent in words (cf. Ps. xxxix. 1-3).