The study examines the five prayers known as Jeremiah’s confessions (Jer 11,18-12,6; 15,10-21; 17,14-18; 18,18-23; 20,7-18) in their immediate and wider context. Are they older or younger than the texts surrounding them? What is their significance in the Book of Jeremiah? The analysis aims to demonstrate how the form of the prophet’s apparently personal prayer is used to highlight the theological problem of unjust suffering. This process is carried out in a number of steps which consider not only Jer 11-20, but also Jer 1-20; 1-45, and finally 1-51.