Jeremiah 1

1The words of Jeremiah,^a the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests living in Anathoth^b in the territory of Benjamin. ²The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah^c son of Amon, king of Judah. ³It also came throughout the days of Jehoiakim^d son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah^e son of Josiah, king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

THE CALL OF JEREMIAH

⁴The word of the Lord came to me:

⁵I chose you before I formed you in the womb;

I set you apart before you were born.^f

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.^g

⁶But I protested, “Oh no, Lord God! Look, I don’t know how to speak^h since I am only a youth.”ⁱ

⁷Then the Lord said to me:

Do not say, “I am only a youth,”^j

for you will go to everyone I send you to

and speak whatever I tell you.^k

⁸Do not be afraid of anyone,^l

for I will be with you to rescue you.^m

This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁹Then the Lord reached out his hand, touched my mouth,ⁿ and told me:

I have now filled your mouth with my words.^o

¹⁰See, I have appointed you today

over nations and kingdoms

to uproot and tear down,

to destroy and demolish,^p

to build and plant.^q

TWO VISIONS

¹¹Then the word of the Lord came to me, asking, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”^r

I replied, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”

¹²The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I watch over^A my word to accomplish it.”^{s 13}Again the word of the Lord came to me asking, “What do you see?”

And I replied, “I see a boiling pot,^t its lip tilted from the north to the south.”

¹⁴Then the Lord said to me, “Disaster will be poured out^B from the north^u on all who live in the land. ¹⁵Indeed, I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north.”^v

This is the Lord’s declaration.

They will come, and each king will set up his throne

at the entrance to Jerusalem’s gates.

They will attack all her surrounding walls

and all the other cities of Judah.

¹⁶“I will pronounce my judgments against them for all the evil they did when they abandoned me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands.^w

¹⁷“Now, get ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them^x or I will cause you to cower before them. ¹⁸Today, I am the one who has made you a fortified city,^y an iron pillar, and bronze walls^z against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the population. ¹⁹They will fight against you but never prevail over you,^aa since I am with you to rescue you.”^ab

This is the Lord’s declaration.