Verse 17 depicts Jeremiah's suffering. Because of his suffering and disappointment, he said to his mother, "Woe is me." She was silent, but Jehovah talked with Jeremiah to encourage and strengthen him. I cannot tell from Jeremiah's answer whether he accepted or rejected God's encouragement. It seems that God spoke in one way according to His feeling and that Jeremiah responded in a different way according to his feeling. Jeremiah seemed to be saying to Jehovah, "I am not happy, and I am not rejoicing. I am suffering, and I am full of indignation because Your hand is upon me."

Verse 18 continues, "Why is my pain unceasing, / And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? / Will You indeed be to me like a deceitful brook? / Like waters that fail?" The Hebrew word for fail literally means "are not sure." Jeremiah had been hurt, wounded, and he made his complaint to God, asking Him if He would be like a deceitful brook or like waters that fail.

In verses 19 through 21 we have Jehovah's response to Jeremiah's complaint. In His response He gave Jeremiah a further commission. Verse 19 says, "Therefore thus says Jehovah, / If you return, I will restore you; / You will stand before Me; / And if you bring out the precious from the worthless, / You will be as My mouth; / They will turn to you, / But you will not turn to them." The pronoun you here may be a further indication that God considered Jeremiah as being one with Israel. Surely Israel needed to return to God and be restored by Him. We may also say that Jeremiah, who was quite disappointed, also needed to return to God in order to be restored by Him. God told Jeremiah that if he returned to Him, he would be restored and would stand before Him.

God went on to tell Jeremiah that if he brought out, that is, uttered, the precious things from the worthless, he would be as His mouth. Jehovah's word concerning uttering precious things may indicate that He regarded Jeremiah's speaking in the previous verses as worthless. God might have been saying, "Jeremiah, what you have just said is not precious—it is worthless. You cannot be My mouth if you speak worthless things. You need to bring out the precious things from the worthless. If you do this, you will be My mouthpiece, My prophet, to speak for Me and to speak forth My word." God continued by telling Jeremiah that if he would be as His mouth, the people of Israel would turn to him. However, he was not to turn to them.

In verse 20 Jehovah told Jeremiah that to the people of Israel He would make him a fortified wall of bronze. They would fight against him, but they would not prevail against him, for Jehovah would be with him to save him and deliver him. He also promised that He would deliver Jeremiah from the hand of the wicked and redeem him from the grasp of those who terrorize (v. 21).