Jeremiah - Chapter 1

Passage

The words of Jeremiah the son of Helcias, of the priests that were in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin. The word of the Lord which came to him in the days of Josias the son of Amon king of Juda, in the thirteenth year of his reign. And which came to him in the days of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda, to the end of the eleventh year of Sedecias the son of Josias king of Juda, even to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive, in the fifth month. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the bowels of your mother, I knew you: and before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you, and made you a prophet to the nations. And I said: Ah, ah, ah, Lord God: behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. And the Lord said to me: Say not: I am a child: for you shall go to all that I shall send you: and whatever I shall command you, you shall speak. Be not afraid at their presence: for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. And the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and the Lord said to me: Behold I have given my words in your mouth: Lo, I have set you this day over the nations, and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said: I see a rod watching. And the Lord said to me: You have seen well: for I will watch over my word to perform it. And the word of the Lord came to me a second time saying: What do you see? And I said: I see a boiling caldron, and the face thereof from the face of the north. And the Lord said to me: From the north shall an evil break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold I will call together all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord: and they shall come, and shall set every one his throne in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and upon all the walls thereof round about, and upon all the cities of Juda. And I will pronounce my judgments against them, touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange gods, and have adored the work of their own hands. You therefore gird up your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Be not afraid at their presence: for I will make you not to fear their countenance. For behold I have made you this day a fortified city, and a pillar of iron, and a wall of brass, over all the land, to the kings of Juda, to the princes thereof, and to the priests, and to the people of the land. And they shall fight against them, and shall not prevail: for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.