| NET Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1The following is a record of what Jeremiah son of Hilkiah prophesied. He was one of the priests who lived at Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. | 1The words of Hilkiah's son Jeremiah, who was one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. |
| 2The LORD began to speak to him in the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon ruled over Judah. | 2This message from the LORD came to him during the thirteenth year of the reign of Ammon's son Josiah, the king of Judah, |
| 3The LORD also spoke to him when Jehoiakim son of Josiah ruled over Judah, and he continued to speak to him until the fifth month of the eleventh year that Zedekiah son of Josiah ruled over Judah. That was when the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile. | 3and during the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, and continued until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month, at the end of the eleventh year of the reign of Josiah's son Zedekiah, the king of Judah. |
| 4The LORD said to me, | 4This message from the LORD came to me: |
| 5"Before I formed you in your mother's womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations." | 5"I knew you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart for me before you were born; I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations." |
| 6I answered, "Oh, Lord GOD, I really do not know how to speak well enough for that, for I am too young." | 6I replied, "Ah, LORD God! Look, I don't know how to speak, because I'm only a young man." |
| 7The LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am too young.' But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. | 7Then the LORD told me, "Don't say, 'I'm only a young man,' for you will go everywhere I send you, and you will speak everything I command you. |
| 8Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, for I will be with you to protect you," says the LORD. | 8Don't be afraid of them, because I am with you to deliver you," declares the LORD. |
| 9Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me. | 9The LORD stretched out his hand, touched my mouth, and then told me, "Look, I've put my words in your mouth. |
| 10Know for certain that I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted." | 10See, today I've appointed you to prophesy about nations and kingdoms, to pull up and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant." |
| 11Later the LORD asked me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "I see a branch of an almond tree." | 11This message from the LORD came to me, asking, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I replied, "I see an almond branch." |
| 12Then the LORD said, "You have observed correctly. This means I am watching to make sure my threats are carried out." | 12The LORD told me, "You have observed well, because I'm watching over my message, to make sure it comes about." |
| 13The LORD again asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a pot of boiling water; it is tipped toward us from the north." | 13This message from the LORD came to me a second time: "What do you see?" I replied, "I see a boiling pot, and its mouth is tilted away from the north." |
| 14Then the LORD said, "This means destruction will break out from the north on all who live in the land. | 14Then the LORD told me, "From the north disaster will pour out on all who live in the land, |
| 15For I will soon summon all the peoples of the kingdoms of the north," says the LORD. "They will come and their kings will set up their thrones near the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all the walls surrounding it, and all the towns in Judah. | 15because I'm about to summon all the families and kingdoms from the north," declares the LORD. "They'll come and each one will set up his seat at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all of its surrounding walls, and against all of the towns of Judah. |
| 16In this way I will pass sentence on the people of Jerusalem and Judah because of all their wickedness. For they rejected me and offered sacrifices to other gods, worshiping what they made with their own hands." | 16"I'll pronounce my judgments against them because of all their wickedness. They have forsaken me, they have burned incense to other gods, and they have bowed down in worship to the works of their own hands." |
| 17"But you, Jeremiah, get yourself ready! 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. | 17"As for you, get ready! Stand up and tell them everything that I've commanded you. Don't be frightened as you face them, or I'll frighten you right in front of them. |
| 18I, the LORD, hereby promise to make you as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in the land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and all the people of the land. | 18"As for me, today I'm making you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. |
| 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. | 19They'll fight against you, but they won't prevail against you, because I am with you," declares the LORD, "to deliver you." |
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