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¹ The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in 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 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah; unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

⁴ Now the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,⁵ Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.⁶ Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.⁷ But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for to whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go, and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak.⁸ Be not afraid because of them: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.⁹ Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth:¹⁰ see, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, and to destroy and to overthrow; to build, and to plant.

¹¹ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. ¹² Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch over my word to perform it.¹³ And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething caldron; and the face thereof is from the north. ¹⁴ Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁵ For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. ¹⁶ And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness; in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. ¹⁷ Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them. ¹⁸ For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. ¹⁹ And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.