Jeremiah 15:10-18·~1 min

Jeremiah’s Woe

Jeremiah laments that his mother bore him into a life of contention, though he has not lived as a man of financial exploitation. The LORD responds with words about strengthening him and then resumes the language of judgment, declaring that Judah's wealth and treasures will be given away and that the people will serve enemies in a land they do not know.

W¹⁰oe to me, my mother, ¹¹The LORD said: ¹²Can anyone smash iron — ¹³Your wealth and your treasures ¹⁴Then I will enslave you to your enemies

Verse 10Jeremiah cries woe over being born a man of strife and contention to the whole land, though he has not exploited anyone.

This verse opens the prophet's lament over the social burden of his calling.

Verse 11The LORD answers that He will strengthen Jeremiah for good and will cause even his enemies to plead with him in time of trouble.

This verse begins God's response with a promise of eventual vindication.

Verse 12A rhetorical question asks whether ordinary iron can break iron from the north and bronze.

This verse underscores the unbreakable force of what the LORD is bringing.

Verse 13Judah's wealth and treasures will be given as plunder without price because of sin throughout the land.

This verse turns again from Jeremiah's pain to the nation's sentence.

Verse 14The LORD will make the people serve their enemies in a land they do not know, because His anger burns like an unquenchable fire.

This verse completes the exile sentence surrounding Jeremiah's complaint.

Jeremiah appeals to the LORD who knows and sees, asking for remembrance and vengeance on his persecutors. He recalls finding God's words and delighting in them, yet he also protests the isolation and unhealed pain that have come with bearing the burden of the LORD's hand.

¹⁵You understand, O LORD; ¹⁶Your words were found, and I ate them. ¹⁷I never sat with the band of revelers, ¹⁸Why is my pain unending,

Verse 15Jeremiah appeals to the LORD who knows, asking to be remembered, visited, and avenged against his persecutors.

This verse begins the prophet's direct plea for personal justice.

Verse 16God's words were found and eaten, becoming Jeremiah's joy and delight because he bears the LORD's name.

This verse reveals the prophet's deep attachment to the divine word.

Verse 17Jeremiah did not sit with revelers but sat alone under the LORD's hand, filled with indignation.

This verse links prophetic obedience to loneliness and separation.

Verse 18He asks why his pain is perpetual and his wound incurable, wondering whether the LORD will prove like an unreliable stream.

This verse closes the lament at its sharpest point of emotional vulnerability.

Passage shape

A quiet block diagram: each row is one authored paragraph movement, with verse numbers kept visible for scanning and deeper work.

vv. 10-14
Jeremiah laments that his mother bore him into a life of contention, though he has not lived as a man of financial exploitation. The LORD responds with words about strengthening him and then resumes the language of judgment, declaring that Judah's wealth and treasures will be given away and that the people will serve enemies in a land they do not know.
This paragraph opens Jeremiah's complaint and shows how closely his personal sorrow is tied to the nation's doomed future.
10 11 12 13 14
vv. 15-18
Jeremiah appeals to the LORD who knows and sees, asking for remembrance and vengeance on his persecutors. He recalls finding God's words and delighting in them, yet he also protests the isolation and unhealed pain that have come with bearing the burden of the LORD's hand.
This paragraph deepens the prophet's lament by contrasting his love for God's word with the loneliness it has produced.
15 16 17 18

Section summaryAfter hearing the continuation of judgment, Jeremiah turns to his own pain and laments that his life has become one of universal strife and reproach. He remembers God's word as joy and identity, yet he also cries out over loneliness, divine indignation, and a wound that feels persistent enough to make God's help seem uncertain and deceptive.

Role in the chapterThis section exposes the personal cost of carrying the divine message. It shows that prophetic faithfulness does not erase anguish and that Jeremiah's ministry has left him isolated between God's word and the hostility of the people.