Bible Verses About Fountain of Living Waters: 12

"'My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.'"

— Jeremiah 2:13 (NIV)

People who search bible verses about the fountain of living waters want Scripture on maqor mayim chayyim — God as the forsaken spring/fountain of living water in Jeremiah — not only the living water John 4/7 inventory or the fountain of life Psalm/Proverbs inventory alone. This page is a numbered list of twelve passages with the NIV text and a short note on each. Related lists: Bible verses about living water, Bible verses about the fountain of life, Bible verses about hope, Bible verses about repentance, Bible verses about Jesus, Bible verses about salvation, Bible verses about faith, and Bible verse of the day. Fountain of living waters here means the living spring God is — versus broken cisterns — distinct from living-water-as-Spirit lists or fountain-of-life wisdom lists alone.

Word study (lead theme). In Hebrew, "fountain/spring" is מָקוֹר maqor (Strong's H4726; Bible Hub H4726) — a spring, source, fountain. "Waters" is מַיִם mayim (Strong's H4325; Bible Hub H4325) — waters. "Living" uses חַי chay (Strong's H2416; Bible Hub H2416). Jeremiah 2:13 names God maqor mayim chayyim — fountain/spring of living waters (KJV "fountain of living waters"; NIV "spring of living water"). This list tracks that Jeremiah indictment image and related living-spring thirst texts, not the whole living-water or fountain-of-life inventory.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Jeremiah 2 presses the two evils — forsaking the fountain of living waters and hewing broken cisterns (Bible Hub MHC Jeremiah 2; Blue Letter Bible, Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 2). Isaiah 58 speaks of the Lord guiding and satisfying like a well-watered garden (Bible Hub MHC Isaiah 58; Blue Letter Bible, Matthew Henry on Isaiah 58). (Living-water and fountain-of-life lists live on those pages; this list centers fountain of living waters.)

12 Bible verses about the fountain of living waters

1. Jeremiah 2:13. "'My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.'" Fountain/spring of living water forsaken — broken cisterns instead. See Bible verses about repentance.

2. Isaiah 58:11. "The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Spring whose waters never fail — satisfied in scorched land. See Bible verses about hope.

3. Isaiah 41:17-18. "The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs." Springs in valleys — God answers the thirsty. See Bible verses about salvation.

4. Isaiah 44:3. "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants." Water on thirsty land — Spirit poured. See Bible verses about the Holy Spirit.

5. Isaiah 49:10. "They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water." Lead beside springs of water — compassion guides. See Bible verses about hope.

6. Psalm 42:1-2. "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?" Pants for streams — thirst for the living God. See Bible verses about worship.

7. Psalm 63:1. "You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water." Thirst for God in a dry land — no water. See Bible verses about prayer.

8. Psalm 46:4. "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells." River that makes glad — God's city watered. See Bible verses about peace.

9. Song of Songs 4:12. "You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain." Sealed fountain — enclosed spring. See Bible verses about love.

10. Isaiah 35:6-7. "Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow." Bubbling springs in thirsty ground — wilderness reversed. See Bible verses about hope.

11. Revelation 22:1. "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb." River of the water of life — from the throne. See Bible verses about heaven.

12. Proverbs 25:25. "Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land." Cold water to a weary soul — good news that refreshes. See Bible verses about hope.

How to use these verses

Pick one verse when you need the fountain of living waters — not twelve as a grind. If you need the Jeremiah indictment, start with Jeremiah 2:13. If you need a spring that never fails, open Isaiah 58:11. If you need thirst for the living God, open Psalm 42:1-2. For living water in John, open Bible verses about living water. For fountain of life in Psalm/Proverbs, open Bible verses about the fountain of life. For a daily verse, open Bible verse of the day.

Questions people ask

What is a good Bible verse about the fountain of living waters?

Jeremiah 2:13 (forsaken me, the spring of living water), Isaiah 58:11 (a spring whose waters never fail), and Psalm 42:1-2 (thirst for the living God) are clear starting places.

How do Bible verses about fountain of living waters differ from living water alone?

Living-water pages often center John 4 and 7 — Christ's gift and the Spirit. This page centers Jeremiah's maqor mayim chayyim — God as the fountain/spring of living waters versus broken cisterns — then cross-links living water. See Bible verses about living water.

How does this differ from fountain of life?

Fountain-of-life pages center maqor chayyim in Psalm 36 and Proverbs (wisdom, fear of the Lord, mouth of the righteous). This page centers the living-waters fountain in Jeremiah's covenant indictment. See Bible verses about the fountain of life.

What does fountain of living waters mean in Jeremiah 2:13?

God himself is the living spring his people forsook; broken cisterns cannot hold water. Hebrew maqor mayim chayyim names that fountain. See Bible verses about repentance.

Sources

• NIV text for the twelve verses above (NIV "spring of living water" / KJV "fountain of living waters" sense noted for Jer 2:13).
• Strong's H4726 (maqor); H4325 (mayim); H2416 (chay): Blue Letter Bible and Bible Hub lexicon pages linked in the word study.
• Matthew Henry Concise: Jeremiah 2; Isaiah 58 (Bible Hub MHC and Blue Letter Bible Comm links above).