Jeremiah 1 — Legacy Standard Bible

Yahweh Sends Jeremiah the Prophet

1The words of ^aJeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in ^bAnathoth in the land of Benjamin, ²to whom the word of ¹Yahweh came in the days of ^aJosiah the son of ^bAmon, king of Judah, in the ^cthirteenth year of his reign. ³And it came in the days of ^aJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of ^bZedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

⁴Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

⁵“Before I ^aformed you in the ¹innermost parts I knew you,And ^bbefore you came out from the womb I set you apart;I have ^cgiven you as a prophet to the nations.”⁶Then ^aI said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh!Behold, I do not know how to speakBecause ^bI am a youth.”⁷But Yahweh said to me,“Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’^aBecause everywhere I send you, you shall go,And ^ball that I command you, you shall speak.⁸“^aDo not be afraid of them,For ^bI am with you to deliver you,” declares Yahweh.

⁹Then Yahweh sent forth His hand and ^atouched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have ^bput My words in your mouth.

¹⁰“See, ^aI have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,^bTo uproot and to tear down,To cause to perish and to pull down,^cTo build and to plant.”

The Almond Rod and Boiling Pot

¹¹Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “What do you see, ^aJeremiah?” And I said, “I see a rod of an ¹almond tree.” ¹²Then Yahweh said to me, “You have seen well, for ^aI am ¹watching over My word to do it.”

¹³The word of Yahweh came to me a second time saying, “^aWhat do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling ^bpot, facing away from the north.” ¹⁴Then Yahweh said to me, “^aFrom the north the evil ¹will break open on all the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁵“For, behold, I am calling ^aall the families of the kingdoms of the north,” declares Yahweh; “and they will come, and each one of them will ^bput his throne at the opening of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls round about and against all the ^ccities of Judah. ¹⁶“I will speak My judgments on them concerning all their evil, whereby they have ^aforsaken Me and have ^bburned incense to other gods and worshiped the ^cworks of their own hands. ¹⁷“Now, ^agird up your loins and arise and speak to them all which I command you. ^bDo not be dismayed before them, lest I dismay you before them. ¹⁸“Now behold, I have given you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests, and to the people of the land. ¹⁹“And they will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for ^aI am with you to deliver you,” declares Yahweh.