Jeremiah 1:1–12

Yahweh Sends Jeremiah the Prophet

¹The words of ^aJeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in ^bAnathoth in the land of Benjamin,

²to whom the word of ¹Yahweh came in the days of ^aJosiah the son of ^bAmon, king of Judah, in the ^cthirteenth year of his reign.

³And it came in the days of ^aJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of ^bZedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

⁴Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

⁵“Before I ^aformed you in the ¹innermost parts I knew you,

And ^bbefore you came out from the womb I set you apart;

I have ^cgiven you as a prophet to the nations.”

⁶Then ^aI said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh!

Behold, I do not know how to speak

Because ^bI am a youth.”

⁷But Yahweh said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’

^aBecause everywhere I send you, you shall go,

And ^ball that I command you, you shall speak.

⁸“^aDo not be afraid of them,

For ^bI am with you to deliver you,” declares Yahweh.

⁹Then Yahweh sent forth His hand and ^atouched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me,

“Behold, I have ^bput My words in your mouth.

¹⁰“See, ^aI have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,

^bTo uproot and to tear down,

To cause to perish and to pull down,

^cTo build and to plant.”

The Almond Rod and Boiling Pot

¹¹Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “What do you see, ^aJeremiah?” And I said, “I see a rod of an ¹almond tree.”

¹²Then Yahweh said to me, “You have seen well, for ^aI am ¹watching over My word to do it.”