Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.

JEREMIAH 15:6KJV
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Jeremiah 15:6 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 15:6 mean?

Jeremiah 15:6 describes God telling the people of Judah that they have abandoned Him and turned away from Him, so He will act against them in judgment and is tired of holding back His anger. The verse shows that God’s patience has limits when people continually reject Him.

In this verse, God is speaking through the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Judah during a time when they have repeatedly turned away from Him and ignored His warnings. The verse uses strong language to show that God has been patient, but the people’s ongoing unfaithfulness has led Him to the point where He will no longer hold back the consequences. The phrase “I am weary with repenting” means God is tired of relenting or changing His mind about punishing them, highlighting the seriousness of their actions.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 15:6

  • "forsaken" (נָטַשׁ, natash): This word means to abandon or leave behind. It emphasizes that the people’s rejection of God was deliberate, not accidental.
  • "gone backward" (הָלַךְ אָחוֹר, halakh achor): This phrase means to turn away or move in the opposite direction, showing a willful reversal from following God.
  • "weary" (לָאָה, la’ah): This word means to be worn out or exhausted. God is expressing that He is emotionally spent from continually holding back judgment.
  • "repenting" (נָחַם, nacham): Here, this word means to relent or change one’s mind about bringing punishment. God is saying He is tired of repeatedly sparing them from consequences.

Why Jeremiah 15:6 matters

  • Jeremiah 15:6 clears up the idea that God’s patience is endless; it shows that persistent rejection leads to real consequences.
  • The verse highlights the emotional weight of God’s relationship with His people, using language like “weary” to show that their actions deeply affect Him.
  • This verse connects to the wider message of Jeremiah, where God repeatedly calls His people to return, but also warns that judgment will come if they refuse.

Where else these words appear

“weary” Hebrew H3811 · used in 18 verses

  • Genesis 19:11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
  • Psalms 68:9 Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.
  • Jeremiah 6:11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.

“forsaken” Hebrew H5203 · used in 39 verses

  • Genesis 31:28 And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.
  • 1 Samuel 30:16 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
  • Isaiah 16:8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.

“backward” Hebrew H268 · used in 41 verses

  • Genesis 49:17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
  • Psalms 44:10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
  • Isaiah 41:23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

“repenting” Hebrew H5162 · used in 100 verses

  • Genesis 5:29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
  • Job 29:25 I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.
  • Jeremiah 18:10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.