Jeremiah 15:18

Wilt thou be altogether, &c.— Wilt thou be altogether unto me as the lying of waters that are not sure? Our translation certainly conveys too harsh an idea, nor is there any reason for it; for the passage may very well be rendered differently. Houbigant renders it, Why is my life unto me as waters which fail and flow away: and others, Thou art become to me a fountain which faileth, and as waters which are not to be trusted. See Isaiah 58:11. "Thou hast promised to be my defence and protector against all my enemies; and wilt thou altogether disappoint and deceive me; like rivulets, which, being dried up in the summer, disappoint the thirsty traveller?" Instead of incurable, in the former part of the verse, some read, not to be touched; so painful and tender, that it will not bear the touch of the healer. See Dr. Waterland's Script. Vind. part. 3: p. 81.