Jeremiah 1:1-19
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkijah, one of the priests at ʽAnathoth in Benjamin,
2 to whom Jehovah’s word came in the time of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the year ten of his reign;
3 and it came in the times of Jehojakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, till the eleventh year of Sidkijah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, was done, till Jerusalem was deported in the fifth month.
4 And Jehovah’s word came to me, saying
5 “Before I shaped you in a mother’s body I knew you and before you came out of a womb I consecrated you; I have constituted you a prophet to the nations.”
6 And I said “O, O, my Lord Jehovah! why, I do not know how to speak, because I am a boy.”
7 And Jehovah said to me “Do not say ‘I am a boy,’ for you shall go against whatever I send you against and speak whatever I commission you to;
8 do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, quoth Jehovah.”
9 And Jehovah put out his hand and touched my mouth; and Jehovah said to me
10 * “Here I have put my words ins your mouth: see, I appoint you over the nations and kingdoms this day to uproot and pull down and destroy and demolish, to build and to plant.”
11 * And Jehovah’s word came to me “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said “I see an almond twig.”
12 And Jehovah said to me “You see well, for I pay attention to my word to carry it out.”
13 And Jehovah’s word came to me a second time “What do you see?” I said “I see a boiling kettle facing northward.”
14 * And Jehovah said to me “From the north disaster will boil up against all the inhabitants of the earth;
15 for here I am summoning all the northern kingdoms, quoth Jehovah, and they shall come and each set his throne at the gates of Jerusalem and before her walls and before all the cities of Judah,
16 and I will present my case against them for all their viciousness, their having left me and made burnings to other gods and done reverence to the work of their hands.
17 * But for your part you are to gird your waist and stand up and speak to them everything that I commission you to. Do not be dismayed at them, or I will dismay you before them.
18 * Here have I today made you a fortified city and a bronze wall to the kings of Judah, its priests, and the common people;
19 and they shall attack you, but they shall not get the best of you, because I am with you, quoth Jehovah, to deliver you.”
Footnotes
^ 1:10 Var. and destroy, to build
^ 1:11-12 The words almond and pay attention are spelled alike in Hebrew
^ 1:14 Or of the country
^ 1:17 Or be daunted . . . will daunt
^ 1:18 Var. city and an iron column and a bronze
