These are the words Jeremiah received from the Lord. He was the son of Hilkiah. Jeremiah was one of the priests at Anathoth. That’s a town in the territory of Benjamin. ²A message came to Jeremiah from the Lord. It came in the 13th year that Josiah was king over Judah. Josiah was the son of Amon.

³The Lord’s message also came to Jeremiah during the whole time Jehoiakim was king over Judah. Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah. The Lord continued to speak to Jeremiah until the fifth month of the 11th year that Zedekiah was king over Judah. That’s when the people of Jerusalem were forced to leave their country. Zedekiah was the son of Josiah. Here is what Jeremiah said.

The Lord Chooses Jeremiah

⁴A message came to me from the Lord. He said,

⁵“Before I formed you in your mother’s body I chose you.

Before you were born I set you apart to serve me.

I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

⁶“You are my Lord and King,” I said. “I don’t know how to speak. I’m only a child.”

⁷But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I’m only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to. You must say everything I command you to say. ⁸Do not be afraid of the people I send you to. I am with you. I will save you,” announces the Lord.

⁹Then the Lord reached out his hand. He touched my mouth and spoke to me. He said, “I have put my words in your mouth. ¹⁰Today I am appointing you to speak to nations and kingdoms. I want you to pull them up by the roots and tear them down. I want you to destroy them and crush them. But I also want you to build them up and plant them.”

¹¹A message came to me from the Lord. He asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

“The branch of an almond tree,” I replied.

¹²The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly. I am watching to see that my word comes true.”

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