Bible Strands
Jeremiah 17:13
O 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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah addresses the LORD directly, pronouncing corporate judgment on those who forsake Him. The surrounding verses (12, 14) frame this as a moment of confession before God's throne.
The words — מִקְוֵה (mikveh) carries the verse; it means "hope" or "expectation" but shares its root with the word for a water pool, binding the two images together. The BSB's "written in the dust" renders בָּאָרֶץ (ba'arets), which literally reads "in the land/earth."
The thread — The "fountain of living water" language reappears in John 4:14 and John 7:37, where Jesus identifies Himself as the source, and in Revelation 7:17, where the Lamb leads the redeemed to springs of living water.
Why it lands — The verse forces a binary: your hope is in the LORD, or you are written in the earth. It asks the reader to name where their hope actually rests.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.
Cross-references
- Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
- John 4:14 But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
- John 7:37 On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
- John 4:10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
- Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
- Psalms 36:8 They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights.
- Revelation 21:6 And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.
- John 8:6 They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger.
- Isaiah 1:28 But rebels and sinners will together be shattered, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
- Luke 10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”