Jeremiah 1:1–12

1The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were ^ain Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, ²to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of ^bJosiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, ^cin the thirteenth year of his reign. ³It came also in the days of ^dJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, ^euntil the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, ^funtil the carrying away of Jerusalem captive ^gin the fifth month.

The Prophet is Called

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

⁵“Before I ^hformed you in the womb ⁱI knew you;

Before you were born I ^jsanctified ¹you;

I ²ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

⁶Then said I:

^k“Ah, Lord God!

Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”

⁷But the Lord said to me:

“Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’

For you shall go to all to whom I send you,

And ^lwhatever I command you, you shall speak.

^8mDo not be afraid of their faces,

For ⁿI am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.

⁹Then the Lord put forth His hand and ^otouched my mouth, and the Lord said to me:

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

^10qSee, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,

To ^rroot out and to pull down,

To destroy and to throw down,

To build and to plant.”

¹¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”

And I said, “I see a ³branch of an almond tree.”

¹²Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ⁴ready to perform My word.”