Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became a joy to me and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, Lord God of armies.
Parallel translations
- WEB Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, Yahweh, God of Armies.
- KJV Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
- BSB Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts.
- NKJV Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.
- NLT When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jeremiah found God's words and ate them, and they became the joy and delight of his heart because he bears God's name. Delighting in God's word is the deep nourishment of those who belong to Him.
Overview
To eat God's words pictures receiving and inwardly treasuring His revelation as life-giving food. Despite his sufferings, Jeremiah finds true joy in the word and in belonging to the LORD of Armies. This points to the satisfying delight believers find in Scripture and ultimately in Christ, the living Word, whom the soul feeds upon by faith (John 6:35).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Rev 10:9–10I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. He said to me, “Take it, and eat it up. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.”
- Ezek 3:1–3He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”
- Ps 119:101–103I have kept my feet from every evil way, that I might observe your word.
- Job 23:12I haven’t gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
- Ps 19:10More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb.
- Ps 119:111I have taken your testimonies as a heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
- Ps 119:97How I love your law! It is my meditation all day.
- Ps 119:72The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver. YUD
- Jer 14:9Why should you be like a scared man, as a mighty man who can’t save? Yet you, Yahweh, are in the middle of us, and we are called by your name. Don’t leave us.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 15:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.