1 These
are the words of Jeremiah, Hilkiah’s son, who was one of the priests from
Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 2 The Lord’s word came to Jeremiah in the
thirteenth year of Judah’s King Josiah, Amon’s son, 3 and
throughout the rule of Judah’s King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son, until the fifth
month of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, Josiah’s son, when the people of
Jerusalem were taken into exile.
4 The Lord’s
word came to me:
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.”
11 The Lord asked
me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
I said, “A branch of an almond tree.”
12 The Lord then
said, “You are right, for I’m watching over my word until it is
fulfilled.”13 The Lord asked
me again, “What do you see?”
I said, “A pot boiling over from the
north.”
14 The Lord said
to me, “Trouble will erupt from the north against the people of this land.”
15 I’m calling for all the tribes of great nations
from the north, says the Lord,
and they will set up their rulers by the entrances of Jerusalem, on its
walls, and in every city of Judah.16 I will declare my
judgment against them for doing evil: for abandoning me, worshipping other
gods, and trusting in the works of their hands. 17 But
you must prepare for battle and be ready to utter every word I command you.
Don’t be frightened before them, or I will frighten you before them. 18 Today
I have made you an armed city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall against the
entire land—the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and all its people. 19 They
will attack you, but they won’t defeat you, because I am with you and will
rescue you, declares the Lord.
1 The Lord’s word came to me:
2 Go and proclaim to the people of Jerusalem,
The Lord proclaims:
I remember your first love,
your devotion as a young bride,
how you followed me in the wilderness,
in an unplanted land.
3 Israel was devoted to the Lord,
the early produce of the harvest.
Whoever ate from it became guilty;
disaster overtook them,
declares the Lord.
Scripture taken from the Common English Bible®, CEB® Copyright © 2010, 2011 by Common English Bible.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. The "CEB" and "Common English Bible" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Common English Bible. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Common English Bible.