Jeremiah 1:4-10

Common English Bible

⁵ “Before I created you in the womb I knew you;
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I made you a prophet to the nations.”
⁶ “Ah, Lord God,” I said, “I don’t know how to speak
    because I’m only a child.”
⁷ The Lord responded,
    “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a child.’
        Where I send you, you must go;
        what I tell you, you must say.
⁸ Don’t be afraid of them,
    because I’m with you to rescue you,”
        declares the Lord.
⁹ Then the Lord stretched out his hand,
    touched my mouth, and said to me,
    “I’m putting my words in your mouth.
¹⁰ This very day I appoint you over nations and empires,
    to dig up and pull down,
    to destroy and demolish,
    to build and plant.”