UST JER Chapter 1

◄ JER 1 ► ║ ═ ©

1 I, Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, wrote these messages. I am a priest, from the town of Anathoth in the area where the tribe of Benjamin lives. 2 Yahweh started to give me these messages when Josiah had been ruling Judah for almost thirteen years. 3 Yahweh continued to give me these messages when Josiah’s son Jehoiakim was the king of Judah, and he continued to do that until Zedekiah, Josiah’s son, had been the king of Judah for eleven years. It was in the fifth month of that year that the people of Jerusalem were exiled to Babylonia.

4 One day Yahweh gave me this message. He said,

5 “I chose you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.

I chose you to serve me in a special way before you were born.

I appointed you to be my prophet whose messages would be for people from all nations.”

6 I replied, “O, Yahweh my God, notice that I am not a good public speaker, because I am quite young!”

7 Yahweh replied, “Do not say that you are too young, because you must go to everyone to whom I will send you, and you must tell them everything that I tell you to say. 8 You must not be afraid of the people to whom you will speak, because I will protect you so that they do not harm you.” This will surely happen because Yahweh has said it!

9 Then Yahweh touched my mouth with his hand and said to me, “Listen to me! I have put my message into your mouth. 10 Understand this: today I am appointing you to warn nations and kingdoms. You will tell them that I will completely destroy and get rid of some of them and that I will establish others and cause them to be prosperous.”

11 Then Yahweh said to me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”

I replied, “I see a branch from an almond tree.”

12 Yahweh said to me, “That is correct. And because the word for ‘almond’ resembles the word for ‘watching’, it means that I am watching closely, and I will make certain that what I have said to you will happen.”

13 Then Yahweh spoke to me again and said, “What do you see?”

I replied, “I see a pot full of boiling water. It is in the north, tipping toward me.”

14 Yahweh replied, “It means that from the north I will cause disastrous things to happen to all the people living in this land.

15 Listen to what I say:

I am summoning the armies of the kingdoms that are north of Judah to come to Jerusalem.

Their kings will set up their thrones at the gates of this city to indicate that they are now the kings of Judah.

And their armies will attack and break down the walls of this city, and they will do the same thing to all the other cities in Judah.

16 I will declare how I am going to punish my people for all the evil things that they have done;

they have abandoned me and have burned incense as an offering to false gods.

They have worshiped idols that they have made with their own hands!

17 So, you must get ready for action! Then go to the people of Judah and tell them everything that I tell you to say! Do not be afraid of them, because if you are afraid of them, I will punish you as an example right in front of them! 18 But listen! Today I will cause you to be strong, like a city that has strong walls around it. You will be as strong as an iron pillar or a bronze wall. None of the kings of Judah or its officials, its priests, or any of its people will be able to defeat you. 19 They will oppose you, but they will not be able to defeat you, because I will be with you in order to protect you.” This will surely happen because Yahweh, has said it!