Jeremiah 1

¹ The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests living at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

² The word of Yahweh came to him in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenthyear of his reign;

³ then in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiahson of Josiah, king of Judah, until the deportation of Jerusalem, in the fifth month.

⁴ The word of Yahweh came to me, saying:

⁵ 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you; I appointedyou as prophet to the nations.'

⁶ I then said, 'Ah, ah, ah, Lord Yahweh; you see, I do not know how to speak: I am only a child!'

⁷ But Yahweh replied, 'Do not say, "I am only a child," for you must go to all to whom I send you and saywhatever I command you.

⁸ Do not be afraid of confronting them, for I am with you to rescue you, Yahweh declares.'

⁹ Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me: 'There! I have putmy words into your mouth.

¹⁰ Look, today I have set you over the nations and kingdoms, to uproot and to knock down, to destroy andto overthrow, to build and to plant.'

¹¹ The word of Yahweh came to me, asking, 'Jeremiah, what do you see?' I answered, 'I see a branch ofthe Watchful Tree.'

¹² Then Yahweh said, 'Wel seen, for I am watching over my word to perform it.'

¹³ A second time the word of Yahweh came to me, asking, 'What do you see?' I answered, 'I see acooking pot on the boil, with its mouth tilting from the north.'

¹⁴ Then Yahweh said: 'From the north disaster wil come boiling over on all who live in the country,

¹⁵ for I am now summoning al the families of the kingdoms of the north, Yahweh declares. They wilcome, and each wil set his throne in front of the gates of Jerusalem, al round, against its wal s and against althe towns of Judah.

¹⁶ I shal pronounce my judgements on them because of al their wickedness, since they have abandonedme, offering incense to other gods and worshipping what their own hands have made.

¹⁷ 'As for you, prepare yourself for action. Stand up and tel them al I command you. Have no fear ofthem and in their presence I wil make you fearless.

¹⁸ For look, today I have made you into a fortified city, a pil ar of iron, a wal of bronze to stand against thewhole country: the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests and the people of the country.

¹⁹ They will fight against you but wil not overcome you, for I am with you, Yahweh declares, to rescueyou.'