Jeremiah 15:18
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Jeremiah isn't just complaining about his suffering; he's questioning God's faithfulness itself. He compares God to a "deceitful brook" or "waters that fail," a common image for something that promises refreshment but ultimately disappoints, highlighting his profound crisis of trust. This isn't about God being a liar, but about Jeremiah's fear that God might appear as one to others if His promises don't materialize as expected.
Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jeremiah feels utterly overwhelmed and abandoned by God, questioning why his suffering persists and seems incurable. He compares God's faithfulness to a deceitful, dry riverbed that promises relief but ultimately fails, leaving him in despair over his mission and the people's rejection. This outburst comes after God had previously affirmed Jeremiah's calling and promised to make him strong, making his current feeling of abandonment particularly sharp.
Jeremiah's words here are raw and powerful. He feels a pain that won't go away, a wound that won't heal. What kind of mission leads to such deep despair?
Jeremiah is grappling with the crushing weight of his prophetic calling. He sees his efforts to turn Judah back to God as failing miserably. The people reject his message, and judgment is inevitable. This isn't just personal sadness; it's the agony of seeing God's people heading for disaster and feeling utterly powerless to stop it. The 'pain' and 'wound' are the emotional and spiritual toll of bearing such a heavy burden, a burden that feels incurable because the people refuse to repent.
Jeremiah compares God to 'deceitful waters.' What does this shocking accusation reveal about his crisis of faith and the nature of God?
This is perhaps the most startling part of Jeremiah's lament. He questions if God will be like 'waters that fail' – unreliable, drying up when most needed. This imagery evokes the desperate hope placed in desert streams that vanish, leaving travelers stranded.
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Understand the original words
akzabh · Hebrew Adjective
A deceptive or treacherous thing; it refers to something that promises life or support but fails to deliver, leading to disappointment and abandonment.
Jeremiah's cry of pain and incurable wound reflects the profound despair of Jerusalem's destruction and the Babylonian exile, a time when God's people felt abandoned and questioned His promises, much like a traveler deceived by the mirage of water in a dry land.
Late 7th century BC
Jeremiah's Call to Prophesy
Jeremiah is called by God to prophesy to Judah, a time when the kingdom is morally and spiritually decaying under King Josiah and later kings.
605 BC
First Babylonian Deportation
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deports a number of Jewish nobles and people, including Daniel, to Babylon. This event marks a significant shift in power and foreshadows future exile.
c. 597 BC
Second Babylonian Deportation
Another wave of exiles, including King Jehoiachin and the prophet Ezekiel, are taken to Babylon. Judah's sovereignty is further diminished.
586 BC— this verse
Fall of Jerusalem and Temple Destruction
Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and its Temple, bringing the Kingdom of Judah to an end. Most of the remaining population is exiled to Babylon.
Post-586 BC
Exile in Babylon
The majority of the Jewish people live in exile in Babylon, facing disillusionment and questioning God's faithfulness and promises.
Like Jeremiah, Job feels his hope in God has failed him, comparing his friends' comfort to a dry streambed that disappoints the thirsty traveler.
Psalm 78:19This passage describes the Israelites testing God and asking if He could 'prepare a table in the wilderness,' mirroring Jeremiah's questioning of God's provision when his situation feels impossible.
Isaiah 49:23This prophecy offers a hopeful counterpoint, promising that nations will recognize God's power and not be put to shame, unlike Jeremiah's fear of being proven a liar.
Ezekiel 11:19God promises to give His people 'one heart' and remove their 'heart of stone,' contrasting with Jeremiah's 'incurable wound' and 'perpetual pain' stemming from the people's hardened hearts.
Romans 8:38-39Paul's powerful declaration that nothing can separate believers from God's love echoes Jeremiah's underlying faith, even in his darkest moment of questioning God's faithfulness.
clarkeJeremiah 15:18: "Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?"
Wilt thou be altogether unto me as - waters that fail? - Leaning either springs, which in the height of summer grow dry; or, like that phenomenon in the sandy desert, where, by a peculiar action of the air on the rising vapors, the resemblance of water is produced, so that the traveler, deceived, rejoices that he is come, in the san…
gillJeremiah 15:18: "Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?"
Why is my pain perpetual,.... The pain of his mind; his uneasiness for the good of his people, which was likely to last, having no hope of a change for the better: or it may design the pain which they gave him by their reproaches and persecutions of him, which seemed as if they would have no end: and my wound incurable, which refuse…
Jeremiah isn't just complaining about his suffering; he's questioning God's faithfulness itself. He compares God to a "deceitful brook" or "waters that fail," a common image for something that promises refreshment but ultimately disappoints, highlighting his profound crisis of trust. This isn't about God being a liar, but about Jeremiah's fear that God might appear as one to others if His promises don't materialize as expected.
Jeremiah feels utterly overwhelmed and abandoned by God, questioning why his suffering persists and seems incurable. He compares God's faithfulness to a deceitful, dry riverbed that promises relief but ultimately fails, leaving him in despair over his mission and the people's rejection. This outburst comes after God had previously affirmed Jeremiah's calling and promised to make him strong, making his current feeling of abandonment particularly sharp.
Jeremiah feels utterly overwhelmed and abandoned by God, questioning why his suffering persists and seems incurable. He compares God's faithfulness to a deceitful, dry riverbed that promises relief but ultimately fails, leaving him in despair over his mission and the people's rejection. This outburst comes after God had previously affirmed Jeremiah's calling and promised to make him strong, making his current feeling of abandonment particularly sharp.
"Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?" — Jeremiah isn't just complaining about his suffering; he's questioning God's faithfulness itself. He compares God to a "deceitful brook" or "waters that fail," a common image for something that promis…
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Last reviewed October 2026
