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¹ THE words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who 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, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, until the inhabitants of Jerusalem were carried captive in the fifth month.

⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,⁵ Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came out of the womb I sanctified you and ordained you a prophet to the nations.⁶ Then I said, I beseech thee, O LORD God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am but a child.⁷ And 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 Be not afraid of their presence; for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.⁹ Then the LORD put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.¹⁰ See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, and to overthrow and to destroy, to build and to plant.

¹¹ Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.¹² Then the LORD said to me, You have well seen; for I will hasten my word to perform it.¹³ And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling caldron; and its face is toward the north.¹⁴ Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.¹⁵ For, lo, I will send and I will call all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says 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 its walls round about and against all the cities of Judah.¹⁶ And I will utter my judgments against them, because of all their wickedness, for they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods and worshipped the works of their own hands.¹⁷ Therefore gird up your loins, and arise and speak to all that I command you; be not afraid of them, lest I confound you before them.¹⁸ For, behold, I have made you this day like a fortified city and like an iron pillar and like a brass fence against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against their princes, against their priests, against their prophets, and against all the people of the land.¹⁹ And they shall fight with you; but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.