Jeremiah 1

Revised Geneva Translation

1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the Priests who were at Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin,

² to whom the Word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign,

³ and also in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

⁴ Then the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you and ordained you to be a Prophet to the nations.”

⁶ Then I said, “Oh, LORD God. Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child.”

⁷ But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a child’. For you shall go to all that I shall send you. And whatever I Command you, you shall speak.

⁸ “Do not be afraid of their faces. For I am with you, to deliver you,” said the LORD.

⁹ Then the LORD stretched out His Hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put My Words in your mouth.

¹⁰ “Behold, this day I have set you over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to pluck up, and to root out, and to destroy, and throw down, to build, and to plant.”

¹¹ After this, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a rod of almond tree.”

¹² Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly. For I will hasten My Word, to perform it.”

¹³ Again the Word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a seething pot, looking out of the North.”

¹⁴ Then the LORD said to me, “A plague shall spread out of the North, upon all the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁵ “For lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the North,” says the LORD, “and they shall come. And everyone shall set his throne in the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and on all its walls, all around, and in all the cities of Judah.

¹⁶ “And I will declare to them My Judgments touching all the wickedness of those who have forsaken Me, and have burnt incense to other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

¹⁷ “You, therefore, truss up your loins and arise and speak to them, all that I Command you. Do not be afraid of their faces, lest I destroy you before them.

¹⁸ “For I, behold, I, this day, have made you a defensed city, and an iron pillar, and walls of brass, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

¹⁹ “For they shall fight against you. But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you, to deliver you,” says the LORD.