¹ The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests living at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

² The word of Yahweh came to him in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign;

³ then in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the deportation of Jerusalem, in the fifth month.

⁴ The word of Yahweh came to me, saying:

⁵ 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you; I appointed you as prophet to the nations.'

⁶ I then said, 'Ah, ah, ah, Lord Yahweh; you see, I do not know how to speak: I am only a child!'

⁷ But Yahweh replied, 'Do not say, "I am only a child," for you must go to all to whom I send you and say whatever I command you.

⁸ Do not be afraid of confronting them, for I am with you to rescue you, Yahweh declares.'

⁹ Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me: 'There! I have put my words into your mouth.

¹⁰ Look, today I have set you over the nations and kingdoms, to uproot and to knock down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.'

¹¹ The word of Yahweh came to me, asking, 'Jeremiah, what do you see?' I answered, 'I see a branch of the Watchful Tree.'

¹² Then Yahweh said, 'Well seen, for I am watching over my word to perform it.'

¹³ A second time the word of Yahweh came to me, asking, 'What do you see?' I answered, 'I see a cooking pot on the boil, with its mouth tilting from the north.'

¹⁴ Then Yahweh said: 'From the north disaster will come boiling over on all who live in the country,

¹⁵ for I am now summoning all the families of the kingdoms of the north, Yahweh declares. They will come, and each will set his throne in front of the gates of Jerusalem, all round, against its walls and against all the towns of Judah.

¹⁶ I shall pronounce my judgements on them because of all their wickedness, since they have abandoned me, offering incense to other gods and worshipping what their own hands have made.

¹⁷ 'As for you, prepare yourself for action. Stand up and tell them all I command you. Have no fear of them and in their presence I will make you fearless.

¹⁸ For look, today I have made you into a fortified city, a pillar of iron, a wall of bronze to stand against the whole country: the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests and the people of the country.

¹⁹ They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you, Yahweh declares, to rescue you.'