Jeremiah 1:1-13 ▼

1 The words of Hilkiah's son Jeremiah, who was one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

2 This message from the LORD came to him during the thirteenth year of the reign of Ammon's son Josiah, the king of Judah,

3 and 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.

4 This message from the LORD came to me:

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.|

6 I replied, |Ah, LORD God! Look, I don't know how to speak, because I'm only a young man.|

7 Then 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.

8 Don't be afraid of them, because I am with you to deliver you,| declares the LORD.

9 The LORD stretched out his hand, touched my mouth, and then told me, |Look, I've put my words in your mouth.

10 See, 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.|

11 This message from the LORD came to me, asking, |What do you see, Jeremiah?| I replied, |I see an almond branch.|

12 The LORD told me, |You have observed well, because I'm watching over my message, to make sure it comes about.|

13 This 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.|