^1:17“But you, Jeremiah,³¹ get yourself ready!³² Go and tell these people everything I instruct you to say. Do not be terrified of them, or I will give you good reason to be terrified of them.³³^1:18I, the Lord,³⁴ hereby promise to make you³⁵ as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in³⁶ the land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and all the people of the land. ^1:19They will attack you but they will not be able to overcome you, for I will be with you to rescue you,” says the Lord.

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Footnotes

31 The name “Jeremiah” is not in the text. The use of the personal pronoun followed by the proper name is an attempt to reflect the correlative emphasis between Jeremiah’s responsibility noted here and the Lord’s promise noted in the next verse. The emphasis in the Hebrew text is marked by the presence of the subject pronouns at the beginning of each of the two verses.
32 Heb “gird up your loins.” For the literal use of this idiom to refer to preparation for action see 2 Kgs 4:29; 9:1. For the idiomatic use to refer to spiritual and emotional preparation as here, see Job 38:3, 40:7, and 1 Pet 1:13 in the NT.
33 Heb “I will make you terrified in front of them.” There is a play on words here involving two different forms of the same Hebrew verb and two different but related prepositional phrases, “from before/of,” a preposition introducing the object of a verb of fearing, and “before, in front of,” a preposition introducing a spatial location.
34 See the note on “Jeremiah” at the beginning of v. 17.
35 Heb “today I have made you.” The Hebrew verb form here emphasizes the certainty of a yet future act; the Lord is promising to protect Jeremiah from any future attacks which may result from his faithfully carrying out his commission. See a similar use of the same Hebrew verb tense in v. 9, and see the translator’s note there.
36 Heb “I make you a fortified city … against all the land.…” The words “as strong as” and “so you will be able to stand against all the people of …” are given to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“Now, get ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them or I will cause you to cower before them. Today, I am the one who has made you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the population. They will fight against you but never prevail over you, since I am with you to rescue you.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Get up and prepare for action.

Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say.

Do not be afraid of them,

or I will make you look foolish in front of them.

For see, today I have made you strong

like a fortified city that cannot be captured,

like an iron pillar or a bronze wall.

You will stand against the whole land—

the kings, officials, priests, and people of Judah.

They will fight you, but they will fail.

For I am with you, and I will take care of you.

I, the Lord, have spoken!”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

But you, you must gird your loins, and stand, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be afraid of them, or I will shatter you before them. Now look, I have made you today as a fortified city and as an iron pillar and a bronze wall against all the land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. And they will fight against you but they will not prevail against you, for I am with you,” declares Yahweh, “to deliver you.”

KJV 1900King James Version

Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen 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. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.

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