Jeremiah 1:1–12

Jeremiah’s Call and Commission

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 the Lord came in the days of ^aJosiah the son of ^bAmon, king of Judah, in the ^cthirteenth year of his reign.

³It came also 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 the Lord came to me saying,

⁵“Before I ^aformed you in the womb I knew you,

And ^bbefore you were born I consecrated you;

I have ^cappointed you a prophet to the nations.”

⁶Then ^aI said, “Alas, Lord ¹God!

Behold, I do not know how to speak,

Because ^bI am a youth.”

⁷But the Lord 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 the Lord.

⁹Then the Lord stretched out His hand and ^atouched my mouth, and the Lord 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 pluck up and to break down,

To destroy and to overthrow,

^cTo build and to plant.”

The Almond Rod and Boiling Pot

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

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