Jeremiah 1
1
God chooses Jeremiah to speak for him
1My name is Jeremiah. I am a priest, and my father Hilkiah and everyone else in my family are from Anathoth in the territory of the Benjamin tribe. This book contains the things that the LORD told me to say. 2The LORD first spoke to me in the thirteenth year that Josiah#1.2 Josiah: Ruled 640-609 BC. was king of Judah,#2 K 22.3—23.27; 2 Ch 34.8—35.19. 3and he continued to speak to me during the rule of Josiah's son Jehoiakim.#1.3 Jehoiakim: Ruled 609-598 BC. The last time the LORD spoke to me was in the fifth month#1.3 fifth month: Ab, the fifth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-July to mid-August. of the eleventh year that Josiah's son Zedekiah#1.3 Zedekiah: Ruled 598-586 BC. was king. That was also when the people of Jerusalem were taken away as prisoners.#2 K 23.36—24.7; 2 Ch 36.5-8; 2 K 24.18—25.21; 2 Ch 36.11-21.
The LORD chooses Jeremiah
4The LORD said:
5“Jeremiah, I am your Creator,
and before you were born,
I chose you to speak for me
to the nations.”
6I replied, “I'm not a good speaker, LORD, and I'm too young.”
7“Don't say you're too young,” the LORD answered. “If I tell you to go and speak to someone, then go! And when I tell you what to say, don't leave out a word! 8I promise to be with you and keep you safe, so don't be afraid.”
9The LORD reached out his hand, then he touched my mouth and said, “I am giving you the words to say, 10and I am sending you with authority to speak to the nations for me. You will tell them of doom and destruction, and of rising and rebuilding again.”
11The LORD showed me something in a vision. Then he asked, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
I answered, “A branch of almonds that ripen early.”
12“That's right,” the LORD replied, “and I always rise early#1.11,12 almonds…rise early: In Hebrew “almonds that ripen early” sounds like “always rise early”. to keep a promise.”
13Then the LORD showed me something else and asked, “What do you see now?”
I answered, “I see a pot of boiling water in the north, and it's about to spill out towards us.”
14The LORD said:
I will pour out destruction
all over the land.
15Just watch while I send
for the kings of the north.
They will attack and capture
Jerusalem and other towns,
then set up their thrones
at the gates of Jerusalem.
16I will punish my people,
because they are guilty
of turning from me
to worship idols.
17Jeremiah, get ready!
Go and tell the people
what I command you to say.
Don't be frightened by them,
or I will make you terrified
while they watch.
18My power will make you strong
like a fortress
or a column of iron
or a wall of bronze.
You will oppose all of Judah,
including its kings and leaders,
its priests and people.
19They will fight back,
but they won't win.
I, the LORD, give my word—
I won't let them harm you.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Jeremiah 1
1
1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.
2 The word of the Lord, which came to him in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign,
3 and which came to him in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, even until the completion of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, even until the transmigration of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
4 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
5 "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you went forth from the womb, I sanctified you. And I made you a prophet to the nations."
6 And I said: "Alas, alas, alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am a boy."
7 And the Lord said to me: "Do not choose to say, 'I am a boy.' For you shall go forth to everyone to whom I will send you. And you shall speak all that I will command you.
8 You should not be afraid before their face. For I am with you, so that I may deliver you," says the Lord.
9 And the Lord put forth his hand, and he touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me: "Behold, I have placed my words in your mouth.
10 Behold, today I have appointed you over nations and over kingdoms, so that you may root up, and pull down, and destroy, and scatter, and so that you may build and plant."
11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "I see a staff, keeping watch."
12 And the Lord said to me: "You have seen well. For I will keep watch over my word, so that I may accomplish it."
13 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see a cooking pot upon a fire, and its face is before the face of the north."
14 And the Lord said to me: "From the north, an evil will spread over all the inhabitants of the earth.
15 For behold, I will call together all the close associates of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord. And they will arrive, and each one of them will place his throne at the entrance to the gates of Jerusalem, and over all its surrounding walls, and over all the cities of Judah.
16 And I will speak my judgments with them, concerning all the wickedness of those who have forsaken me, and who have offered libations to strange gods, and who have adored the work of their own hands.
17 Therefore, you should gird your waist, and rise up, and speak to them everything that I instruct you. You should not have dread before their face. For I will cause you to be unafraid of their countenance.
18 For certainly, this day, I have made you like a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and a brass wall, over all the land, to the kings of Judah, to its leaders, and to the priests, and to the people of the land.
19 And they will make war against you, but they will not prevail. For I am with you, says the Lord, so that I may free you."
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