Jeremiah 17:15

Brenton's Septuagint

Behold, they say to me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Hear how they keep challenging me,“Where is the word of the Lord?Let it come!”

Hebrew Names Version
Behold, they tell me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.

King James Version
Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord ? let it come now.

English Standard Version
Behold, they say to me, "Where is the word of the Lord ? Let it come!"

New American Standard Bible
Look, they keep saying to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!"

New Century Version
The people of Judah keep asking me, "Where is the word from the Lord ? Let's see that message come true!"

Amplified Bible
Behold, they keep saying to me, "Where is the word of the LORD [that is, the disaster that you prophesied]? Let it come now!"

World English Bible
Behold, they tell me, Where is the word of Yahweh? let it come now.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Behold, they say vnto me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come nowe.

Legacy Standard Bible
Behold, they keep saying to me,"Where is the word of Yahweh?Let it come now!"

Berean Standard Bible
Behold, they keep saying to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!"

Contemporary English Version
The people of Judah say to me, "Jeremiah, you claimed to tell us what the Lord has said. So why hasn't it come true?"

Complete Jewish Bible
They keep asking me, "Where is the word of Adonai ? Let it come now."

Darby Translation
Behold, these say unto me, Where is the word of Jehovah? let it then come!

Easy-to-Read Version
The people of Judah continue to ask me questions. They say, "Jeremiah, what about the message from the Lord ? Let's see that message come true."

George Lamsa Translation
Behold, they say to me, Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now.

Good News Translation
The people say to me, "Where are those threats the Lord made against us? Let him carry them out now!"

Lexham English Bible
Look, they are saying to me, "Where is the word of Yahweh? Please let it come."

Literal Translation
Behold, they say to me, Where is the Word of Jehovah? Let it come now.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Beholde, these men saye vnto me: Where is the worde of the LORDE? Let it come.

American Standard Version
Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of Jehovah? let it come now.

Bible in Basic English
See, they say to me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Behold, they say unto me: 'Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.'

King James Version (1611)
Behold, they say vnto mee, Where is the word of the Lord ? let it come now.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Beholde, these men say vnto me, where is the worde of the Lorde? let it come nowe.

English Revised Version
Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Lo! thei seien to me, Where is the word of the Lord? come it.

Update Bible Version
Look, they say to me, Where is the word of Yahweh? let it come now.

Webster's Bible Translation
Behold, they say to me, Where [is] the word of the LORD? let it come now.

New English Translation
Listen to what they are saying to me. They are saying, "Where are the things the Lord threatens us with? Come on! Let's see them happen!"

New King James Version
Indeed they say to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!"

New Living Translation
People scoff at me and say, "What is this ‘message from the Lord ' you talk about? Why don't your predictions come true?"

New Life Bible
They say to me, "Where is the Word of the Lord? Let it come now!"

New Revised Standard
See how they say to me, "Where is the word of the Lord ? Let it come!"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Lo! they, are saying unto me, - Where is the word of Yahweh? Pray thee let it come to pass!

Douay-Rheims Bible
Behold they say to me: Where is the word of the Lord? let it come.

Revised Standard Version
Behold, they say to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come!"

Young's Literal Translation
Lo, they are saying unto me: `Where [is] the word of Jehovah? pray, let it come.'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Look, they keep saying to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!"

Contextual Overview

¹² An exalted throne of glory is our sanctuary. ¹³ O Lord, the hope of Israel, let all that have left thee be ashamed, let them that have revolted be written on the earth, because they have forsaken the fountain of life, the Lord. ¹⁴ Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for thou art my boast. ¹⁵ Behold, they say to me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come. ¹⁶ But I have not been weary of following thee, nor have I desired the day of man; thou knowest; the words that proceed out of my lips are before thy face. ¹⁷ Be not to me a stranger, but spare me in the evil day. ¹⁸ Let them that persecute me bee ashamed, but let me not be ashamed: let them be alarmed, but let me not be alarmed: bring upon them the evil day, crush them with double destruction.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Jeremiah 20:7, Jeremiah 20:8, Isaiah 5:19, Ezekiel 12:22, Ezekiel 12:27, Ezekiel 12:28, Amos 5:18, 2 Peter 3:3, 2 Peter 3:4

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 23:33 - What Jeremiah 42:2 - and pray Ezekiel 24:24 - when Jonah 4:5 - till

Cross-References

Genesis 17:5
And thy name shall no more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraam, for I have made thee a father of many nations.

Genesis 32:28
And he said to him, Thy name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name; for thou hast prevailed with God, and shalt be mighty with men.

2 Samuel 12:25
And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and called his name Jeddedi, for the Lord’s sake.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Behold, they say unto me,.... Or, "they are saying unto me" y, continually; these were their daily flouts and jeers:

Where [is] the word of the Lord? that thou hast so often talked of? thou hast for a long time threatened us with a siege, and famine, pestilence, and the sword, and captivity, but none of these come to pass; where is the accomplishment of them? thou hast pretended to have the word of the Lord for all this; but where is it, or the fulfilment of it? so the Targum,

"where is that which thou hast prophesied in the name of the Lord?''

the judgments, as punishments for sin, he prophesied of. This has been always usual in all ages, that when God's judgments threatened have not been immediately executed, scoffers and mockers have rose up, suggesting they would never come; see Malachi 2:17;

let it come now; immediately, or we shall not believe it ever will; a very impudent, daring, and wicked expression: this is like that in Isaiah 5:19. The Targum is,

"let it now be confirmed;''

or fulfilled; declaring as their impiety, so their infidelity; not believing it ever would be fulfilled.

y הנה המה אמרים אלי "ecce illi sunt dicentes ad me", Schmidt.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In the rest of the prophecy Jeremiah dwells upon the moral faults which had led to Judah’s ruin.

Jeremiah 17:6

Like the heath - Or, “like a destitute man” Psalms 102:17. The verbs “he shall see” (or fear) and “shall inhabit” plainly show that a man is here meant and not a plant.

Jeremiah 17:8

The river - Or, “water-course” Isaiah 30:25, made for purposes of irrigation.

Shall not see - Or, “shall not fear Jeremiah 17:6.” God’s people feel trouble as much as other people, but they do not fear it because they know

(1) that it is for their good, and

(2) that God will give them strength to bear it.

Jeremiah 17:9

The train of thought is apparently this: If the man is so blessed Jeremiah 17:7-8 who trusts in Yahweh, what is the reason why men so generally “make flesh their arm”? And the answer is: Because man’s heart is incapable of seeing things in a straightforward manner, but is full of shrewd guile, and ever seeking to overreach others.

Desperately wicked - Rather, mortally sick.

Jeremiah 17:10

The answer to the question, “who can know it?” To himself a man’s heart is an inscrutable mystery: God alone can fathom it.

Ways - Rather, way, his course of life. The “and” must be omitted, for the last clause explains what is meant “by man’s way,” when he comes before God for judgment. It is “the fruit,” the final result “of his doings, i. e., his real character as formed by the acts and habits of his life.

Jeremiah 17:11

Rather, “As the partridge hath gathered eggs which it laid not, so ...” The general sense is: the covetous man is as sure to reap finally disappointment only as is the partridge which piles up eggs not of her own laying, and is unable to hatch them.

A fool - A Nabal. See 1 Samuel 25:25.

Jeremiah 17:12, Jeremiah 17:13

Or, “Thou throne ... thou place ... thou hope ... Yahweh! All that forsake Thee etc.” The prophet concludes his prediction with the expression of his own trust in Yahweh, and confidence that the divine justice will finally be vindicated by the punishment of the wicked. The “throne of glory” is equivalent to Him who is enthroned in glory.

Jeremiah 17:13

Shall be written in the earth - i. e., their names shall quickly disappear, unlike those graven in the rock forever Job 19:24. A board covered with sand is used in the East to this day in schools for giving lessons in writing: but writing inscribed on such materials is intended to be immediately obliterated. Equally fleeting is the existence of those who forsake God. “All men are written somewhere, the saints in heaven, but sinners upon earth” (Origen).

Jeremiah 17:15

This taunt shows that this prophecy was written before any very signal fulfillment of Jeremiah’s words had taken place, and prior therefore to the capture of Jerusalem at the close of Jehoiakim’s life. “Now” means “I pray,” and is ironical.

Jeremiah 17:16

I have not hastened from - i. e., I have not sought to escape from.

A pastor to follow thee - Rather, “a shepherd after Thee.” “Shepherd” means “ruler, magistrate” (Jeremiah 2:8 note), and belongs to the prophet not as a teacher, but as one invested with authority by God to guide and direct the political course of the nation. So Yahweh guides His people Psalms 23:1-2, and the prophet does so “after Him,” following obediently His instructions.

The woeful day - literally, “the day of mortal sickness:” the day on which Jerusalem was to be destroyed, and the temple burned.

Right - Omit the word. What Jeremiah asserts is that he spake as in God’s presence. They were no words of his own, but had the authority of Him before whom he stood. Compare Jeremiah 15:19.

Jeremiah 17:17

A terror - Rather, “a cause of dismay,” or consternation Jeremiah 1:17. By not fulfilling Jeremiah’s prediction God Himself seemed to put him to shame.

Jeremiah 17:18

Confounded - Put to shame.

Destroy them ... - Rather, break them with a double breaking: a twofold punishment, the first their general share in the miseries attendant upon their country’s fall; the second, a special punishment for their sin in persecuting and mocking God’s prophet.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 17:15. Where is the word of the Lord? — Where is the accomplishment of his threatenings? Thou hast said that the city and the temple should both be destroyed. No such events have yet taken place. But they did take place, and every tittle of the menace was strictly fulfilled.