Jeremiah 17 14

Jeremiah 17:14 kjv

Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.

Jeremiah 17:14 nkjv

Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise.

Jeremiah 17:14 niv

Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.

Jeremiah 17:14 esv

Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.

Jeremiah 17:14 nlt

O LORD, if you heal me, I will be truly healed;
if you save me, I will be truly saved.
My praises are for you alone!

Jeremiah 17 verses

Jeremiah 17 14 Meaning

Jeremiah 17:14 is a profound and urgent personal prayer from the prophet Jeremiah, characterized by both an earnest plea and a steadfast declaration of faith. It expresses a dual request for divine intervention – healing and salvation – each immediately followed by a confident assurance of its fulfillment due to the very nature and character of God. The verse reveals Jeremiah's complete dependence on Yahweh, articulating that God is not merely the one who receives praise but is, in essence, the very source and substance of all praise, making Him the unshakeable foundation for recovery and deliverance.

Jeremiah 17 14 Context

Jeremiah chapter 17 is a stark exposition of the consequences of unfaithfulness and the blessings of trusting in the Lord. It begins by describing Judah's indelible sin etched upon their hearts, intertwined with idolatry (vv. 1-4). This is followed by the famous contrast between trusting in human strength ("cursed is the man who trusts in man," vv. 5-6) and trusting in the Lord ("blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD," vv. 7-8). The chapter then moves to the deceitfulness of the human heart (v. 9) and God's unerring judgment (vv. 10-11). Jeremiah 17:14 itself comes after the prophet's laments about his suffering and the scorn of those who doubt his prophecies (vv. 12-13, 15). Jeremiah's personal prayer for healing and salvation is therefore embedded within a context of national apostasy, prophetic suffering, and the eternal principles of divine justice and grace. He yearns for vindication and deliverance from personal attacks and the national spiritual sickness, turning completely to Yahweh amidst his trials.

Jeremiah 17 14 Word analysis

• Heal me (רְפָאֵנִי refa'eni):
  • From the Hebrew verb rapha (רָפָא), meaning "to heal, cure, restore, repair."
  • This is an imperative, a direct plea.
  • It encompasses not only physical healing but also spiritual, emotional, and national restoration. Jeremiah suffers personally and is deeply distressed by his nation's spiritual sickness.
  • Significance: Highlights God's role as the Great Physician who alone can bring complete wholeness.
• O LORD (יְהוָה Yahweh):
  • The sacred, covenant name of God. It signifies God's self-existent, eternal, and covenant-keeping nature.
  • Calling on Yahweh underscores a personal, intimate relationship and a plea grounded in God's promises to His people.
  • Significance: Identifies the specific, faithful God of Israel as the only true source of hope.
• and I shall be healed (וְאֵרָפֵא ve'erafe):
  • The waw conjunctive ("and") connects the request directly to the outcome, implying certainty.
  • The verb is in the Niphal imperfect, expressing a reflexive or passive action, implying "I will allow myself to be healed" or "I will be healed."
  • Significance: Expresses absolute confidence in God's power and willingness to respond. It's a statement of assured expectation, not just hope.
• save me (הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי hoshien):
  • From the Hebrew verb yasha (יָשַׁע), meaning "to save, deliver, rescue, help, be victorious."
  • Also an imperative, an urgent plea for deliverance from distress, enemies, or any threatening situation. For Jeremiah, this meant vindication from his opponents and rescue from the emotional burden of his prophetic calling.
  • Significance: A cry for rescue in a broader sense than just physical healing, encompassing overall deliverance and security.
• and I shall be saved (וְאִוָּשֵׁעַ ve'ivashea):
  • The waw again emphasizes the certainty of the outcome following the plea.
  • The verb is in the Niphal imperfect, conveying "I will be saved" or "I shall find salvation."
  • Significance: Reinforces the prophet's unwavering trust that God's act of saving will undeniably bring about salvation.
• for (כִּי ki):
  • A conjunction meaning "for, because, indeed, surely."
  • It introduces the fundamental reason and grounding for the confident expectation of healing and salvation.
  • Significance: Connects God's response directly to His identity and character, not to human merit.
• thou art my praise (תְהִלָּתִי tehillati):
  • From the noun tehillah (תְהִלָּה), meaning "praise, song of praise, glorious deed." The suffix -ti indicates "my."
  • This is not merely "You deserve my praise" but "You are my praise." God Himself is the object, the content, the reason, and the source of Jeremiah's praise.
  • Significance: This phrase profoundly defines Jeremiah's identity and hope. God is his very glory, renown, and the reason for his existence and joy. It denotes utter reliance and adoration, grounding all hope in God's unchanging nature and power. It's an expression of full theological confession and doxology.

Words-group analysis

• Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: This parallel structure (a common poetic device in Hebrew literature, known as synthetic parallelism) intensifies the prayer and the corresponding confident expectation. It functions almost as a cause-and-effect declaration: because I ask the covenant God to heal/save, the outcome is guaranteed. It highlights the divine action and the assured human reception. The repeated plea and assurance demonstrate the prophet's firm belief in God's active, effective, and responsive nature.
• for thou art my praise: This phrase encapsulates the theological foundation for the preceding pleas and assurances. It transcends merely offering praise after a deliverance; it means that God is the very reason for existing, hoping, and believing. His character, power, and faithfulness are the "praise" that gives substance to Jeremiah's life and sustains his prayer. This confession roots the expectation of divine action not in the prophet's merit or the intensity of his plea, but in God's intrinsic worthiness and sovereign identity.

Jeremiah 17 14 Bonus section

This verse functions as a profound prophetic prayer, embodying what it means to rely on Yahweh amidst societal and personal collapse. It stands as an immediate counterpoint to the earlier condemnation of trusting in human strength (Jer 17:5), showing Jeremiah as the blessed man who trusts entirely in the Lord (Jer 17:7). The act of prayer here is not just asking but declaring the outcome, an echo of Old Testament belief in the performative power of God's Word. Jeremiah doesn't doubt if God can heal or save, but simply affirms the process where divine action guarantees human restoration. This phrase "thou art my praise" extends beyond mere theological confession, touching upon the very purpose of creation. Humanity was formed to declare God's praise (Is 43:21), and Jeremiah here aligns his suffering and identity perfectly with that divine mandate, making his praise the living, active core of his hope and very being.

Jeremiah 17 14 Commentary

Jeremiah 17:14 is a powerful declaration of radical dependency on God. In this personal lament, the prophet seeks holistic restoration – both spiritual and physical – from a God he knows as the exclusive source of all life and healing. The certainty expressed ("I shall be healed," "I shall be saved") reflects not mere optimism but deep theological conviction, echoing a steadfast faith rooted in Yahweh's character as the covenant-keeping God. The ultimate justification for this certainty lies in the concluding phrase: "for You are my praise." This signifies that God is not just worthy of praise, but He embodies and sustains Jeremiah's very reason for being and for hope. He is the substance of Jeremiah's worship, and because God is who He is, His responsiveness to sincere cries for healing and salvation is assured. This verse exemplifies turning profound personal suffering into a declaration of absolute trust in divine omnipotence and goodness. It's a prayer that implicitly stands in stark contrast to the folly of trusting in human strength (as detailed earlier in the chapter), instead affirming that ultimate deliverance and identity reside solely in the Lord.

• Example 1: A believer facing a debilitating illness, instead of despairing, confidently prays for healing, knowing God is the ultimate Healer.
• Example 2: An individual overwhelmed by personal failures and sin cries out for spiritual deliverance, trusting God for transformation.
• Example 3: Someone persecuted for their faith confidently calls upon God for vindication and rescue, proclaiming God as their ultimate defender.