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16 As your words came to me I drank them in,[a]
and they filled my heart with joy and happiness
because I belong to you,[b] O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.[c]
17 I did not spend my time in the company of other people,
laughing and having a good time.
I stayed to myself because I felt obligated to you[d]
and because I was filled with anger at what they had done.
18 Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish?
Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound?
Will you let me down when I need you,
like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on?”[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 15:16 sn Heb “Your words were found, and I ate them.” This along with Ezek 2:8-3:3 is a poetic picture of inspiration. The prophet accepted them, assimilated them, and made them such a part of himself that he spoke with complete assurance what he knew were God’s words.
  2. Jeremiah 15:16 tn Heb “Your name is called upon me.”sn See Jer 14:9, where this idiom is applied to Israel as a whole, and Jer 7:10, where it is applied to the temple. For discussion cf. notes on 7:10.
  3. Jeremiah 15:16 tn HebLord God of Armies.” See the translator’s note at 2:19.
  4. Jeremiah 15:17 tn Heb “because of your hand.”
  5. Jeremiah 15:18 tn Heb “Will you be to me like a deceptive (brook), like waters which do not last [or are not reliable].”sn Jeremiah is speaking of the stream beds or wadis, which fill with water after the spring rains but often dry up in the summer time. A fuller picture is painted in Job 6:14-21. This contrasts with the earlier metaphor that God had used of himself in Jer 2:13.