Jeremiah 17:15

Jeremiah 17:15, in plain English

People keep mocking Jeremiah, demanding that he prove God is real by having His judgment actually happen now instead of waiting—they're impatient and skeptical.

Why it's here

Jeremiah's been prophesying judgment, and the people are essentially saying, 'Where's the proof? If God is really going to judge us, do it now.' It's mockery wrapped in impatience. They don't believe the threat is real.

Who's speaking

Jeremiah, describing what people are saying to him

Where it sits in the story

This is the loneliness of being a true prophet. Nobody believes you. People treat your message as a joke. Jeremiah faces mockery for staying faithful to God's word.

The scholarly reading

Jeremiah's critics repeatedly challenge him, demanding that his prophecies be fulfilled immediately—expressing skepticism about the word of the LORD.

Language and setting

The taunt recorded here—'Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!'—reflects the ancient Near Eastern expectation that prophecy should demonstrate immediate efficacy. Delays in prophetic fulfillment created legitimacy crises: if the prophecy hasn't come to pass, perhaps the prophet speaks falsely. This mocking question exposes the tension between Jeremianic long-term (decades before exile) and audience demand for short-term vindication.

Voice

Jeremiah, quoting his opponents' taunt

Significance

This verse articulates the fundamental persecution Jeremiah faced: not physical violence alone but systematic delegitimization. His word seemed proven false by the very fact that immediate judgment didn't materialize—a crisis of prophetic credibility that Jeremiah must navigate through deeper trust in God's timing.

13O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.

14Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.

15Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!”

16But I have not run away from being Your shepherd; I have not desired the day of despair. You know that the utterance of my lips was spoken in Your presence.

17Do not become a terror to me; You are my refuge in the day of disaster.

Read all of Jeremiah 17 — The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick — who can understand it? Cursed is the one who trusts in man. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.