the Fourth Week of Advent
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Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah's Call and Commission
1 The words of (C1)Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in (F1)(C2)Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,2 to whom the word of the LORD came during the (C1)thirteenth year (627 B.C.) of the reign of (C2)Josiah the son of (C3)Amon, king of Judah.3 It came to Jeremiah also in the days of (C1)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, continuing until the end of the eleventh year of (C2)Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and continuing until the exile of the people of Jerusalem in the fifth month (July-August, 586 B.C.). (VR1)
4 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 "Before I (C1)formed you in the womb I knew you and approved of you as My chosen instrument,
And (C2)before you were born I consecrated you to Myself as My own;
I (C3)have appointed you as a prophet to the nations." (VR1)
6 Then (C1)I said, "Ah, Lord GOD!
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
For (C2)I am only a young man." (VR1)
7 But the LORD said to me,
"Do not say, 'I am only a young man,'
(C1)Because everywhere I send you, you shall go,
And (C2)whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 "(C1)Do not be afraid of them or their hostile faces,
For (C2)I am with you always to protect you and deliver you," says the LORD.
"Behold (hear Me), I have (C2)put My words in your mouth.
10 "See, (C1)I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,
(C2)To uproot and break down,
To destroy and to overthrow,
(C3)To build and to plant."
The Almond Branch and Boiling Pot
11 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, "(C1)Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see the branch of an (F1)almond tree."12 Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for (C1)I am actively watching over My word to fulfill it."
13 The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, "(C1)What do you see?" And I said, "I see a boiling (C2)pot, tilting away from the north its mouth about to pour out on the south, on Judea."14 Then the LORD said to me, "(C1)Out of the north the evil which the prophets foretold as the result of national sin will reveal itself and spill out on all the people of the land.15 "For, behold, I will call (C1)all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north," says the LORD; "and they will come and each one will (C2)set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its surrounding walls, and against all the (C3)cities of Judah as My judicial act, the consequence of Judah's deliberate disobedience.16 "I will speak My judgments against them for all the wickedness of those who have (C1)abandoned (rejected) Me, (C2)offered sacrifices or burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the idolatrous (C3)works of their own hands.17 "But you Jeremiah, (F1)(C1)gird up your loins in preparation! Get up and tell them all which I command you. (C2)Do not be distraught and break down at the sight of their hostile faces, or I will bewilder you before them and allow you to be overcome.18 "Now behold, I have made you today like a fortified city and like an iron pillar and like bronze walls against the whole land—against the successive kings of Judah, against its leaders, against its priests, and against the people of the land giving you divine strength which no hostile power can overcome. (VR1)19 "They will fight against you, but they will not ultimately prevail over you, for (C1)I am with you always to protect you and deliver you," says the LORD.
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