The Lord talks to Jeremiah
1Here are the words that Jeremiah said and the things that he did. Jeremiah was a son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in the town of Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 2The Lord talked to Jeremiah when Josiah, son of Amon, was king_of_Judah. That was in the 13th year after Josiah had become king. 3The Lord also talked to Jeremiah when Josiah, son of Jehoiakim, was king_of_Judah. The Lord talked to Jeremiah until the end of the 11th year after Josiah's son, Zedekiah, had become king of Judah. In the 5th month of that year enemies defeated the people of Jerusalem and took them away to another land.
A prophet for the nations
4The Lord said to me:
5‘I chose you before I made you.
I consecrated you to Me
before you were born.
I decided to make you
a prophet for the nations.’
6But I said: ‘O Lord my Lord, I can not speak well because I am a child. I am too young.’
7Then the Lord said to me:
‘Don't say that you are a child
because I am sending you to people,
and you must go to every one of them
and you must tell them everything that I say.
8Do not be afraid of people
because I will be with you to help and save you.’
This is what the Lord said. 9Then He put out his hand and He touched my mouth and said to me: ‘I have put my words into your mouth, and I will tell you what to say. 10You must know this: I have chosen you today and I will tell you what to do with people and with nations. You will pull them down, and you will break, kill and destroy them. You must also build and plant.’
Jeremiah sees an almond branch
11The Lord asked me: ‘Jeremiah, what do you see?’
I said: ‘I see a branch of an almond tree.’
12Then the Lord said to me: ‘Yes, that is right because I am staying awake and getting ready to do what I have said.’
Jeremiah sees a pot of water boiling over in the north
13The Lord talked to me for the 2nd time and He asked me: ‘What do you see now?’
I said: ‘I see a pot of boiling water in the north. It is boiling over and flowing towards us.’
14Then the Lord said to me:
‘I will make something happen in the north.
It will make everyone suffer in this land.
15I will call all the kings
of the lands in the north.
They will come and everyone
will put down his throne
in front of the gates of Jerusalem,
with its strong walls.
They will begin to judge the people
of Jerusalem and punish them,
and also the people of the other cities of Judah.
16That is how I will judge the people
in the land and punish them
for all the bad things that they have done.
They have stopped serving Me,
and they have burnt incense-offerings
to other gods and worshipped images
that they have made.’
The Lord makes Jeremiah strong
17‘Jeremiah, you must start now. You must prepare and tell the people everything that I say to you. Do not be afraid of them because if you are afraid, I will make you fear them and they will see it. 18This is what I will do: I will make you strong today, as strong as a city with strong walls, as strong as an iron pillar and a wall of bronze. You will be strong against all the people in the land, against the kings, against the officials and priests of Judah and against all the important people in the land. 19They will fight against you, but they will not win because I am with you and I will save you.’ This is what the Lord said.