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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, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah king of Judah, to 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 belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations."

 ⁶ Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak for I am like child."

 ⁷ But the LORD said to me, "Say not, I am like 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 faces 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 destroy, and to throw down, 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 branch of the almond tree."

 ¹² Then says the Lord to me, "You have seen well for I am watching over 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 pot, and the face of it is toward the north."

 ¹⁴ Then the LORD said to me, "Out of the north an 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," says the Lord; "and they shall come, and they shall set everyone his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and all around against all its walls and against all the cities of Judah.

 ¹⁶ And I will utter my judgments against them, touching all wickedness of those who have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

 ¹⁷ You therefore gird up your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you; be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound you before them.

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

 ¹⁹ And they shall fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you for I am with you," says the Lord, "to deliver you."