1This book is the account of what was said by Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests of the town of Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. ²^*The Lord spoke to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah, ³^*and he spoke to him again when Josiah’s son Jehoiakim was king. After that, the Lord spoke to him many times, until the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah. In the fifth month of that year the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile.

The Call of Jeremiah

⁴The Lord said to me, ⁵“I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.”

⁶I answered, “Sovereign Lord, I don’t know how to speak; I am too young.”

⁷But the Lord said to me, “Do not say that you are too young, but go to the people I send you to, and tell them everything I command you to say. ⁸Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

⁹Then the Lord stretched out his hand, touched my lips, and said to me, “Listen, I am giving you the words you must speak. ¹⁰Today I give you authority over nations and kingdoms to uproot and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

Two Visions

¹¹The Lord asked me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” I answered, “A branch of an almond tree.” ¹²“You are right,” the Lord said, “and I am watching^a to see that my words come true.”

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Footnotes

awatching: This word in Hebrew sounds like the Hebrew for “almond”.

Cross references

*1.2: 2 K 22:3–23:27; 2 Ch 34:8–35:19
*1.3 a: 2 K 23:36–24:7; 2 Ch 36:5–8 1.3 b: 2 K 24:18–25:21; 2 Ch 36:11–21