diff --git a/error.go b/error.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b4cdcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/error.go
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+package jira
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"net/http"
+
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+)
+
+// Error message from JIRA
+// See https://docs.atlassian.com/jira/REST/cloud/#error-responses
+type Error struct {
+	HTTPError     error
+	ErrorMessages []string          `json:"errorMessages"`
+	Errors        map[string]string `json:"errors"`
+}
+
+// NewJiraError creates a new jira Error
+func NewJiraError(resp *http.Response, httpError error) error {
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+	body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, httpError.Error())
+	}
+
+	jerr := Error{HTTPError: httpError}
+	err = json.Unmarshal(body, &jerr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, err.Error())
+	}
+
+	return &jerr
+}
+
+// Error is a short string representing the error
+func (e *Error) Error() string {
+	if len(e.ErrorMessages) > 0 {
+		// return fmt.Sprintf("%v", e.HTTPError)
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%s: %v", e.ErrorMessages[0], e.HTTPError)
+	}
+	if len(e.Errors) > 0 {
+		for key, value := range e.Errors {
+			return fmt.Sprintf("%s - %s: %v", key, value, e.HTTPError)
+		}
+	}
+	return e.HTTPError.Error()
+}
+
+// LongError is a full representation of the error as a string
+func (e *Error) LongError() string {
+	var msg bytes.Buffer
+	if e.HTTPError != nil {
+		msg.WriteString("Original:\n")
+		msg.WriteString(e.HTTPError.Error())
+		msg.WriteString("\n")
+	}
+	if len(e.ErrorMessages) > 0 {
+		msg.WriteString("Messages:\n")
+		for _, v := range e.ErrorMessages {
+			msg.WriteString(" - ")
+			msg.WriteString(v)
+			msg.WriteString("\n")
+		}
+	}
+	if len(e.Errors) > 0 {
+		for key, value := range e.Errors {
+			msg.WriteString(" - ")
+			msg.WriteString(key)
+			msg.WriteString(" - ")
+			msg.WriteString(value)
+			msg.WriteString("\n")
+		}
+	}
+	return msg.String()
+}
diff --git a/error_test.go b/error_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3b76a2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/error_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+package jira
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestError_NewJiraError(t *testing.T) {
+	handler := func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		io.WriteString(w, `{"errorMessages":["Issue does not exist or you do not have permission to see it."],"errors":{}}`)
+	}
+
+	req := httptest.NewRequest("GET", "http://example.com/foo", nil)
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	handler(w, req)
+	resp := w.Result()
+
+	err := NewJiraError(resp, errors.New("Original http error"))
+	if err, ok := err.(*Error); ok {
+		t.Errorf("Expected jira Error. Got %s", err.Error())
+	}
+	fmt.Println(err.Error())
+}
+
+func TestError_NilOriginalMessage(t *testing.T) {
+	defer func() {
+		if r := recover(); r != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Expected an error message. Got a panic (%v)", r)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	msgErr := &Error{
+		HTTPError:     nil,
+		ErrorMessages: []string{"Issue does not exist"},
+		Errors: map[string]string{
+			"issuetype": "issue type is required",
+			"title":     "title is required",
+		},
+	}
+
+	_ = msgErr.Error()
+}
+
+func TestError_NilOriginalMessageLongError(t *testing.T) {
+	defer func() {
+		if r := recover(); r != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Expected an error message. Got a panic (%v)", r)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	msgErr := &Error{
+		HTTPError:     nil,
+		ErrorMessages: []string{"Issue does not exist"},
+		Errors: map[string]string{
+			"issuetype": "issue type is required",
+			"title":     "title is required",
+		},
+	}
+
+	_ = msgErr.LongError()
+}
+
+func TestError_ShortMessage(t *testing.T) {
+	msgErr := &Error{
+		HTTPError:     errors.New("Original http error"),
+		ErrorMessages: []string{"Issue does not exist"},
+		Errors: map[string]string{
+			"issuetype": "issue type is required",
+			"title":     "title is required",
+		},
+	}
+
+	mapErr := &Error{
+		HTTPError:     errors.New("Original http error"),
+		ErrorMessages: nil,
+		Errors: map[string]string{
+			"issuetype": "issue type is required",
+			"title":     "title is required",
+		},
+	}
+
+	noErr := &Error{
+		HTTPError:     errors.New("Original http error"),
+		ErrorMessages: nil,
+		Errors:        nil,
+	}
+
+	err := msgErr.Error()
+	if err != "Issue does not exist: Original http error" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected short message. Got %s", err)
+	}
+
+	err = mapErr.Error()
+	if err != "issuetype - issue type is required: Original http error" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected short message. Got %s", err)
+	}
+
+	err = noErr.Error()
+	if err != "Original http error" {
+		t.Errorf("Expected original error message. Got %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestError_LongMessage(t *testing.T) {
+	longError := &Error{
+		HTTPError:     errors.New("Original http error"),
+		ErrorMessages: []string{"Issue does not exist."},
+		Errors: map[string]string{
+			"issuetype": "issue type is required",
+			"title":     "title is required",
+		},
+	}
+
+	msg := longError.LongError()
+	if !strings.Contains(msg, "Original http error") {
+		t.Errorf("Expected the error message: Got\n%s\n", msg)
+	}
+
+	if !strings.Contains(msg, "Issue does not exist") {
+		t.Errorf("Expected the error message: Got\n%s\n", msg)
+	}
+
+	if !strings.Contains(msg, "title - title is required") {
+		t.Errorf("Expected the error map: Got\n%s\n", msg)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/issue.go b/issue.go
index b9c9610..6372e4a 100644
--- a/issue.go
+++ b/issue.go
@@ -363,7 +363,8 @@ func (s *IssueService) Get(issueID string) (*Issue, *Response, error) {
 	issue := new(Issue)
 	resp, err := s.client.Do(req, issue)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, resp, err
+		jerr := NewJiraError(resp.Response, err)
+		return nil, resp, jerr
 	}
 
 	return issue, resp, nil