1 The words of Jeremy, son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin.

2 For the word of the Lord was made to him in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his realm.

3 And it was done in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, unto the ending of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, till to the passing over, either captivity, of Jerusalem, in the fifth month.

4 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,

5 Before that I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee; and before that thou wentest out of the womb, I hallowed thee; and I gave thee to be a prophet among folks.

6 And I said, A! A! A! Lord God, lo! I cannot speak, for I am a child.

7 And the Lord said to me, Do not thou say, that I am a child; for thou shalt go to all things, to which I shall send thee, and thou shalt speak all things, whatever things I shall command to thee.

8 Dread thou not of the face of them; for I am with thee, to deliver thee, saith the Lord.

9 And the Lord sent his hand, and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, Lo! I have given my words in thy mouth;

10 lo! I have ordained thee today on folks, and on realms, that thou draw up, and destroy, and lose, and scatter, and build, and plant.

11 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said, What seest thou, Jeremy? And I said, I see a rod waking or watching.

12 And the Lord said to me, Thou hast seen well, for I shall wake or watch* This word in Hebrew sounds like the Hebrew for ‘almond’. on my word, to do it.

13 And the word of the Lord was made the second time to me, and said, What seest thou? [And I said], I see a pot boiling, and the face thereof from the face of the north.

14 And the Lord said to me, From the north shall be showed all evil on all the dwellers of the land.

15 For lo! I shall call together all the nations of [the] realms of the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and set each man his seat in the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and on all the walls thereof in compass, and on all the cities of Judah.

16 And I shall speak my dooms with them on all the malice of them, that forsook me, and made sacrifice to alien gods, and worshipped the work of their hands.

17 Therefore gird [up] thou thy loins, and rise thou, and speak to them all things which I command to thee; dread thou not of the face of them, for I shall not make thee for to dread the cheer of them.

18 For I gave thee today into a strong city, and into an iron pillar, and into a brazen wall, on all the land, to the kings of Judah, and to the princes thereof, and to the priests thereof, and to all the people of the land.

19 And they shall fight against thee, and they shall not have the mastery; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, that I deliver thee.