^1:9Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me.¹⁶^1:10Know for certain that¹⁷ I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be¹⁸ uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.”¹⁹

Read in Logos

Footnotes

16 Heb “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” This is an example of the Hebrew “scheduling” perfect or the “prophetic” perfect where a future event is viewed as so certain it is spoken of as past. The Hebrew particle rendered here “assuredly” (Heb הִנֵּה, hinneh) underlines the certitude of the promise for the future. See the translator’s note on v. . The passage is reminiscent of Deut 18:18 which refers to the Lord’s promise of future revelation through a line of prophets who, like Moses, would speak God’s word.
17 Heb “See!” The Hebrew imperative of the verb used here (רָאָה, ra’ah) functions the same as the particle in v. 9. See the translator’s note there.
18 Heb “I appoint you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot.…” The phrase refers to the Lord giving Jeremiah authority as a prophet to declare what he, the Lord, will do; it does not mean that Jeremiah himself will do these things. The expression involves a figure of speech where the subject of a declaration is stated instead of the declaration about it. Compare a similar use of the same figure in Gen 41:13.
19 These three pairs represent the twofold nature of Jeremiah’s prophecies, prophecies of judgment and restoration. For the further programmatic use of these pairs for Jeremiah’s ministry see 18:7–10 and 31:27–28.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,

to pluck up and to break down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

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

I have now filled your mouth with my words.

See, I have appointed you today

over nations and kingdoms

to uproot and tear down,

to destroy and demolish,

to build and plant.

NLTNew Living Translation

Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said,

“Look, I have put my words in your mouth!

Today I appoint you to stand up

against nations and kingdoms.

Some you must uproot and tear down,

destroy and overthrow.

Others you must build up

and plant.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and he touched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me,

“Look, I have put my words in your mouth.

See, I appoint you this day over the nations

and over the kingdoms,

to pluck up and to pull down,

and to destroy and to tear down,

to build and to plant.”

KJV 1900King James Version

Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

Public Domain