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Jeremiah 15

Jeremiah announces judgment that intercession cannot avert, then brings his own wounded trust before the God who corrects and preserves him.

YHWH tells Jeremiah that even Moses and Samuel could not turn aside the judgment coming on Judah. Jerusalem has rejected him, and death, devastation, and exile await its people. Jeremiah then laments the hostility he faces as God's prophet. He recalls the joy of receiving God's words, describes his isolation, and questions whether God has failed him. YHWH calls Jeremiah to return and promises to preserve him through the opposition that will continue.

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1Then the LORD said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not turn toward this people. Cast them out of my sight, and let them go out!
2It will happen when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go out?’ then you shall tell them, ‘The LORD says: “Such as are for death, to death; such as are for the sword, to the sword; such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.”’
3“I will appoint over them four kinds,” says the LORD: “the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, the birds of the sky, and the animals of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
4I will cause them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
5For who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Who will mourn you? Who will come to ask of your welfare?
6You have rejected me,” says the LORD. “You have gone backward. Therefore I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you. I am weary of showing compassion.
7I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land. I have bereaved them of children. I have destroyed my people. They didn’t return from their ways.
8Their widows are increased more than the sand of the seas. I have brought on them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday. I have caused anguish and terrors to fall on her suddenly.
9She who has borne seven languishes. She has given up the spirit. Her sun has gone down while it was yet day. She has been disappointed and confounded. I will deliver their residue to the sword before their enemies,” says the LORD.
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 every one of them curses me.
11The LORD said, “Most certainly I will strengthen you for good. Most certainly I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
12Can one break iron, even iron from the north, and bronze?
13I will give your substance and your treasures for a plunder without price, and that for all your sins, even in all your borders.
14I will make them to pass with your enemies into a land which you don’t know; for a fire is kindled in my anger, which will burn on you.”
15LORD, you know. Remember me, visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors. You are patient, so don’t take me away. Know that for your sake I have suffered reproach.
16Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, LORD, God of Armies.
17I didn’t sit in the assembly of those who make merry and rejoice. I sat alone because of your hand, for you have filled me with indignation.
18Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Will you indeed be to me as a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?
19Therefore the LORD says, “If you return, then I will bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take out the precious from the vile, you will be as my mouth. They will return to you, but you will not return to them.
20I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall. They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you to save you and to deliver you,” says the LORD.
21“I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you out of the hand of the terrible.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Jeremiah 15:1Naming Moses and Samuel establishes the severity of Judah's judgment: even these renowned intercessors could not turn it aside.
Jeremiah 15:16Jeremiah remembers receiving God's words with joy, making his present anguish and questions about God's faithfulness more stark.
Jeremiah 15:17Jeremiah connects his solitude with God's hand upon him and the indignation bound up with his prophetic calling.
Where this chapter reaches

Ezekiel and Revelation share Jeremiah's image of eating God's message, portraying the reception of divine words through the act of consuming them. Psalm and Job share the language of lament found here, bringing pain and questions about God's help into direct address to him.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about Jeremiah's remembered joy in God's words alongside his present pain?

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How does God's response to Jeremiah address his complaint while leaving the opposition in place?

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Questions people ask about Jeremiah 15

Why does Jeremiah 15 mention Moses and Samuel?

God names Moses and Samuel as figures whose pleading would carry great weight, then declares that even their presence would not change his judgment on this people. The statement is hypothetical. Its force is to show how far Judah's rejection of God has gone and how settled the announced judgment is.

What does eating God's words mean in Jeremiah 15:16?

Eating is an image for receiving God's words and taking them into himself. Jeremiah says those words became his joy, and he connects that joy with belonging to YHWH. The memory stands within a complaint: the same prophet now faces reproach, solitude, and pain because of his calling.

Why does Jeremiah compare God to a deceitful brook?

In verse 18, Jeremiah asks whether God will prove like a watercourse that fails when water is needed. The image expresses his fear that promised help will not come. God answers by calling him to return, correcting his speech, and promising deliverance while warning that people will still fight against him.

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Jeremiah · 52 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).