Jeremiah 1

1^*The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, ^aof the priests that were in ^bAnathoth in the land of Benjamin: ²To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of ^cJosiah the son of Amon king of Judah, ^din the thirteenth year of his reign. ³It came also in the days of ^eJehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, ^funto the end of the eleventh year of ^gZedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, ^hunto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive ^hiin the fifth month.

⁴Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ⁵Before I ^jformed thee in the belly ^kI knew thee; and ^lbefore thou camest forth out of the womb I ^msanctified thee, and I ^†ordained thee a prophet ⁿunto the nations. ⁶Then said I, ^oAh, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for ^pI am a child. ⁷But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and ^qwhatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. ^8rsBe not afraid of their faces: for ^stuI am with thee ^tto deliver thee, saith the Lord. ⁹Then ^vthe Lord put forth his hand, and ^wtouched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, ^xI have put my words in thy mouth. ¹⁰See, I have this day set thee ⁿover the nations and over the kingdoms, ^yto root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

¹¹Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see ^za rod of an almond tree. ¹²Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for ^aI will hasten my word to perform it. ¹³And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see ^ba seething ^cpot; and the face thereof is ^†toward ^dthe north. ¹⁴Then the Lord said unto me, ^dOut of the north an evil ^†shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁵For, lo, I will call ^eall the families of the kingdoms ^dof the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and ^fthey shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. ¹⁶And ^gI will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, ^hiwho have forsaken me, ^hand ^jhave burned incense unto other gods, and ^kworshipped the works of their own hands. ¹⁷Thou therefore ^lgird up thy loins, and arise, and ^mspeak unto them all that I command thee: ⁿbe not dismayed at their faces, lest I ^||confound thee before them. ¹⁸For, behold, I have ^omade thee this day ^pra defenced city, and ^qan iron pillar, and ^rbrasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. ^19rAnd they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; ^rsfor I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.