[1] The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in
Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: [2] to whom the word of Yahweh came in
the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year
of his reign. [3] It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah,
king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of
Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the
fifth month. [4] Now the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, [5] Before I
formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came forth out of the
womb I sanctified you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. [6]
Then said I, Ah, Lord Yahweh! behold, I don`t know how to speak; for I am a
child. [7] But Yahweh said to me, Don`t say, I am a child; for to whoever I
shall send you, you shall go, and whatever I shall command you, you shall
speak. [8] Don`t be afraid because of them; for I am with you to deliver
you, says Yahweh. [9] Then Yahweh put forth his hand, and touched my mouth;
and Yahweh said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth: [10]
behold, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to
pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to
plant. [11] Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what
see you? I said, I see a rod of an almond-tree. [12] Then said Yahweh to
me, You have well seen: for I watch over my word to perform it. [13] The
word of Yahweh came to me the second time, saying, What see you? I said, I
see a boiling caldron; and the face of it is from the north. [14] Then
Yahweh said to me, Out of the north evil shall break forth on all the
inhabitants of the land. [15] For, behold, I will call all the families of
the kingdoms of the north, says Yahweh; and they shall come, and they shall
set everyone his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and
against all the walls of it round about, and against all the cities of
Judah. [16] I will utter my judgments against them touching all their
wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other
gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. [17] You therefore gird
up your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you: don`t
be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them. [18] For, behold, I
have made you this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen
walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the
princes of it, against the priests of it, and against the people of the
land. [19] They shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against
you: for I am with you, says Yahweh, to deliver you.
