Jeremiah 15:15 is a prayer in which the prophet Jeremiah pleads with God to see his suffering, act on his behalf, and not let him be destroyed. He is asking God to remember him, to step into the conflict with the people who oppose him, and to be patient with him rather than sweep him away. The words come from Jeremiah himself, spoken to the LORD, while he is being persecuted for faithfully delivering God’s warnings to Judah.
The LORD, you know. Remember me, visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors. You are patient, so don’t take me away. Know that for your sake I have suffered reproach.
Jeremiah 15:15 (WEB)
What Jeremiah 15:15 Means
The verse opens with Jeremiah addressing God directly, “you know,” which places his situation fully in God’s view. He is not hiding his pain or asking God to explain himself. He asks God to remember him and to visit him, meaning to attend to him actively and personally, not merely to notice from a distance. The word “avenge” here means to vindicate or set things right, so Jeremiah is asking God to defend him against those who hurt him.
The middle of the verse holds an important contrast. Jeremiah asks God not to take him away, which is a plea not to let him be swept off in judgment or cut down by his enemies. The reason he gives is that God is patient, and Jeremiah trusts that divine patience is not the same as indifference. He ends by saying he has suffered reproach for God’s sake, which means the insults he endures come from his faithfulness to God’s message and not from wrongdoing of his own.
The verse does not promise Jeremiah an easy path or guarantee that his persecutors will be punished on his timetable. It is a cry for help from someone in real danger and real pain, and it shows a way of bringing unresolved anger and grief into prayer without pretending they are absent.
The Context of Jeremiah 15:15
The book of Jeremiah is traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, who ministered in Jerusalem around the late seventh and early sixth centuries before Christ. He spoke to the kingdom of Judah in the years leading up to the Babylonian conquest, calling the people and their leaders to repentance. His message was unpopular, and he was mocked, beaten, imprisoned, and threatened for it. Prayers like this one, sometimes called his confessions, reveal the personal cost of his calling.
The verses just before this one describe God warning that Judah’s wealth and sins will be given over to plunder and that the nation will face judgment. Verse 16 follows with Jeremiah saying that God’s words were a joy to him and that he was called by God’s name. Read in that setting, verse 15 is not a complaint against God’s justice but a plea from a man who has taken God’s word to heart, is paying for it, and is asking God to stay close to him while he does.
Key Phrases in Jeremiah 15:15
Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
(WEB)
This verse invites believers to cast their burdens on the LORD, which echoes Jeremiah’s decision to bring his suffering directly to God rather than carrying it alone. Both passages show God’s people turning toward Him with heavy and painful things.
Lamentations 3:55-57
55 I called on your name, the LORD, out of the lowest dungeon. 56 You heard my voice: “Don’t hide your ear from my sighing, and my cry.” 57 You came near in the day that I called on you. You said, “Don’t be afraid.”
(WEB)
These verses record a lament in which the speaker calls on the LORD from the pit and asks Him to hear and draw near. They share Jeremiah’s pattern of crying out in distress and trusting that God listens and responds to those who plead with Him.
A Short Prayer From Jeremiah 15:15
Lord, you know everything that has happened to me and everything I have carried because I tried to be faithful to you. I am tired and hurt, and some of the people around me have made my life harder than it needed to be. Remember me. Come close and see what I am facing, and act on my behalf in the ways only you can. Be patient with me, even when my faith feels thin, and do not let me be swept away by fear or by the people who wish me harm. Help me trust that my suffering is not invisible to you. Amen.
