Jeremiah 1
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Prophet Jeremiah
1 ⌞These are⌟ the words of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah. He was one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah when King Josiah, son of Amon, was in his thirteenth year as king of Judah. 3 The Lord also spoke when Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, was king of Judah and during the 11 years that Zedekiah, ⌞another⌟ son of Josiah, was king of Judah. The Lord continued to speak to Jeremiah until the people of Jerusalem were taken away into captivity in the fifth month of the year.
The Lord Gives Jeremiah a Message for His People
4 The Lord spoke his word to me,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb,
I knew you.
Before you were born,
I set you apart for my holy purpose.
I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”
6 I, Jeremiah, said, “Almighty Lord, I do not know how to speak. I am only a boy!”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Don’t say that you are only a boy. You will go wherever I send you. You will say whatever I command you to say. 8 Don’t be afraid of people. I am with you, and I will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
9 Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. The Lord said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth.
10 Today I have put you in charge of nations and kingdoms.
You will uproot and tear down.
You will destroy and overthrow.
You will build and plant.”
11 Again the Lord spoke his word to me and asked, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
I answered, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
12 Then the Lord said to me, “Right. I am watching to make sure that my words come true.” [a]
13 Again the Lord spoke his word to me and asked, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a boiling pot, and its top is tilted away from the north.”
14 Then the Lord said to me,
“Disaster will be poured out from the north
on all those who live in the land.
15 I am going to call every family and kingdom from the north,”
declares the Lord.
“They will come, and they will set up their thrones
at the entrance of Jerusalem’s gates.
They will attack all the walls around the city
and all the cities of Judah.
16 I will pass sentence on my people because of all their wickedness.
They abandoned me,
burned incense to other gods,
and worshiped what their hands have made.
17 Brace yourself, Jeremiah!
Stand up, and say to them whatever I tell you to say.
Don’t be terrified in their presence,
or I will make you ⌞even more⌟ terrified in their presence.
18 Today I have made you like a fortified city,
an iron pillar, and a bronze wall.
You will be able to stand up to the whole land.
You will be able to stand up to Judah’s kings,
its officials, its priests, and ⌞all⌟ the common people.
19 They will fight you, but they will not defeat you.
I am with you, and I will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1:11–12 There is a play on words here between Hebrew shaked (almond tree ) and shoked (watching ).
Jeremiah 1
King James Version
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
2 To whom the word of the Lord 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, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
12 Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
13 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
14 Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.
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