Jeremiah 1:1–12

The 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