Jeremiah 1
1
1These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests from the town of Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 2The Lord first gave messages to Jeremiah during the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.#1:2 The thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign was 627 b.c. 3The Lord’s messages continued throughout the reign of King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son, until the eleventh year of the reign of King Zedekiah, another of Josiah’s sons. In August#1:3 Hebrew In the fifth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of events in Jeremiah can be cross-checked with dates in surviving Babylonian records and related accurately to our modern calendar. The fifth month in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign occurred within the months of August and September 586 b.c. Also see 52:12 and the note there. of that eleventh year the people of Jerusalem were taken away as captives.
Jeremiah’s Call and First Visions
4The Lord gave me this message:
5“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
Before you were born I set you apart
and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
6“O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”
7The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 8And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” 9Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said,
“Look, I have put my words in your mouth!
10Today I appoint you to stand up
against nations and kingdoms.
Some you must uproot and tear down,
destroy and overthrow.
Others you must build up
and plant.”
11Then the Lord said to me, “Look, Jeremiah! What do you see?”
And I replied, “I see a branch from an almond tree.”
12And the Lord said, “That’s right, and it means that I am watching,#1:12 The Hebrew word for “watching” (shoqed) sounds like the word for “almond tree” (shaqed). and I will certainly carry out all my plans.”
13Then the Lord spoke to me again and asked, “What do you see now?”
And I replied, “I see a pot of boiling water, spilling from the north.”
14“Yes,” the Lord said, “for terror from the north will boil out on the people of this land. 15Listen! I am calling the armies of the kingdoms of the north to come to Jerusalem. I, the Lord, have spoken!
“They will set their thrones
at the gates of the city.
They will attack its walls
and all the other towns of Judah.
16I will pronounce judgment
on my people for all their evil—
for deserting me and burning incense to other gods.
Yes, they worship idols made with their own hands!
17“Get up and prepare for action.
Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say.
Do not be afraid of them,
or I will make you look foolish in front of them.
18For see, today I have made you strong
like a fortified city that cannot be captured,
like an iron pillar or a bronze wall.
You will stand against the whole land—
the kings, officials, priests, and people of Judah.
19They will fight you, but they will fail.
For I am with you, and I will take care of you.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
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Jeremiah 1: NLT
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Jeremiah 1
1
1The words of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, one of the priests from Anathoth,#Anathoth: a village about three miles northeast of Jerusalem, to which Solomon had exiled Abiathar the priest (1 Kgs 2:26–27); it is likely that Jeremiah belonged to that priestly family. in the land of Benjamin. 2The word of the Lord came to him in the days of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign,#Jer 25:3. 3and again in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah—down to the exile of Jerusalem, in the fifth month.#Jer 25:1.
Call of Jeremiah
4The word of the Lord came to me:
5Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.#Jeremiah was destined to become a prophet before his birth; cf. Is 49:1, 5; Lk 1:15; Gal 1:15–16. I knew you: I loved you and chose you. I dedicated you: I set you apart to be a prophet. The nations: the neighbors of Judah, along with Assyria, Babylonia, and Egypt. #Jer 49:1; Gal 1:15–16.
6“Ah, Lord God!” I said,
“I do not know how to speak. I am too young!”#I am too young: like Moses (Ex 3:11, 13; 4:10), Jeremiah at first resists God’s call. This narrative is perhaps patterned after the story of Moses’ call in order to identify Jeremiah as the prophet “like me” in Dt 18:15.
7But the Lord answered me,
Do not say, “I am too young.”
To whomever I send you, you shall go;
whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you—oracle of the Lord.
9Then the Lord extended his hand and touched my mouth, saying to me,
See, I place my words in your mouth!#Dt 18:18; Is 6:7.
10Today I appoint you
over nations and over kingdoms,
To uproot and to tear down,
to destroy and to demolish,
to build and to plant.
11The word of the Lord came to me: What do you see, Jeremiah? “I see a branch of the almond tree,”#There is wordplay between the Hebrew noun shaqed, “almond tree,” and the Hebrew verb shoqed, “watcher/watching.” Because the almond tree begins to bloom in late winter in Palestine, it is called “the watcher” for the coming of spring. God is also “watcher,” observing the fulfillment of the prophetic word. I replied. 12Then the Lord said to me: You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to carry it out. 13#Ez 11:3, 7; 24:3. A second time the word of the Lord came to me: What do you see? I replied, “I see a boiling kettle whose mouth is tipped away from the north.”#Kettle…the north: symbol of an invasion from the north; cf. vv. 14–15.
14The Lord said to me, And from the north evil will pour out over all who dwell in the land.#Jer 4:6; 6:1.
15Look, I am summoning
all the kingdoms of the north—oracle of the Lord—
Each king shall come and set up his throne
in the gateways of Jerusalem,
Against all its surrounding walls
and against all the cities of Judah.#Jer 6:22.
16I will pronounce my sentence against them
for all their wickedness in forsaking me,
In burning incense to other gods,
in bowing down to the works of their hands.#Is 2:8.
17But you, prepare yourself;
stand up and tell them
all that I command you.
Do not be terrified on account of them,
or I will terrify you before them;
18For I am the one who today
makes you a fortified city,
A pillar of iron, a wall of bronze,
against the whole land:
Against Judah’s kings and princes,
its priests and the people of the land.#Jer 6:27; 15:20; Ez 3:8.
19They will fight against you, but not prevail over you,
for I am with you to deliver you—oracle of the Lord.
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