Jeremiah 15:13 Meaning and Explanation
“Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Losing something is painful, and watching it treated as worthless adds a second grief on top. The phrase without price gives this verse its sting. Judah's accumulated substance would change hands with no payment, no ransom, and no negotiation, and every district was included. The verse presses a narrow question about what our possessions actually secure.
Judah's wealth will be handed to plunderers as though it carried no value at all, given away free of charge. The stated reason is the nation's sins, and the loss reaches every corner of its territory.
The Context of Jeremiah 15:13
The speaker is the LORD, addressing Judah through Jeremiah. Verses 11 and 12 have just promised that it will be well with Jeremiah's remnant and asked whether iron can break the northern iron and the steel, a question pointing to the strength of the invader from the north. Verse 13 turns to the nation's wealth and verse 14 to its deportation. Jeremiah 17:3 repeats this sentence almost word for word. Verse 15 then shifts entirely to Jeremiah's own prayer, which runs to the end of the chapter.
What Does Jeremiah 15:13 Mean?
Two words describe what is lost: substance, meaning accumulated resources and property, and treasures, the stored valuables of a household or a sanctuary. Both are given, and the giver named is God himself. Without price is the arresting phrase, since the goods pass to the spoiler with nothing received in exchange, as though a nation's savings were handed across a counter for free. The reason follows at once: for all thy sins. The final clause, even in all thy borders, extends the loss past the capital to every town and field. Nothing is set aside as a protected reserve.
Wealth stands under prophetic scrutiny repeatedly because of what it had come to mean in Judah. Isaiah 2:7 describes a land full of silver and gold with no end to its treasures, sitting in the same breath as a land full of idols. Possessions had become a rival trust. Within Jeremiah 15 this verse answers the question raised in verse 12: iron cannot break northern iron, and treasure cannot purchase safety either. The pairing of sin with confiscation follows the covenant pattern of Deuteronomy 28, where a people's produce and goods pass over to a nation they have never known.
Jesus takes up the same subject on the mountainside, warning against laying up treasures on earth where moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break through and steal, and directing his hearers to treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). His reason is that the heart follows the treasure wherever it goes. Jeremiah 15:13 shows that instability at national scale, where goods gathered across generations changed hands in a single season. The word to Judah and the word on the mountainside agree that stored wealth makes an unreliable anchor, and both leave room for a security no spoiler can carry off.
Jeremiah 15:13 in the Original Language
chayil (חַיִל), 'substance' -- strength, ability, wealth, or an army; the one Hebrew noun covers a person's resources and a nation's fighting force, so the loss announced here touches both what Judah owned and what Judah could put in the field.
Bible Verses Related to Jeremiah 15:13
“O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.”
- Jeremiah 17:3
“The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:”
- Deuteronomy 28:33
“Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:”
- Isaiah 2:7
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:”
- Matthew 6:19
Where Jeremiah 15:13 Echoes in Scripture
Jeremiah 17:3 repeats this sentence almost exactly, addressing the mountain in the field and speaking again of substance and treasures given to the spoil throughout all the borders, with the high places named as the sin in view. A prophet returning to his own wording two chapters later signals that the message had hardened into a fixed formula for Judah's coming loss. The repetition also ties the confiscation directly to what had been happening at those high places.
How to Apply Jeremiah 15:13 Today
Savings, property, and insurance are good gifts, and this verse asks one narrow thing about them: what are we counting on them to do? Judah's treasure could not buy off an empire, and no quantity of it slowed what was coming. We can hold what we own with an open hand, use it generously while we have it, and locate our real security somewhere it cannot be seized. There is also a practical mercy in facing possible loss honestly before it arrives. Jeremiah's hearers were given years of warning, and some of them used the time well.
Reflection & Prayer
If what we own were handed to someone else tomorrow, what would remain of the life we have built? A prayer: Lord, you gave me everything I hold, and I release my grip on it. Teach me to be generous now while it is mine to give, and set my confidence on you where no loss can reach it.