A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Jeremiah 1
Jeremiah 1 is the opening chapter of the twenty-fourth book of the Bible. The 19-verse chapter records the call of the prophet Jeremiah, a young man set apart by God before birth to deliver decades of unwelcome messages to Judah.
The chapter opens by identifying Jeremiah as the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth, a town just north of Jerusalem. The dates given place his career from the thirteenth year of King Josiah, around 627 BC, through the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 BC and beyond.
God's call to Jeremiah is direct and personal. The famous opening line is: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah objects that he is only a youth and does not know how to speak. God dismisses the objection, tells him not to be afraid, and touches his mouth, putting his words there.
Two visions follow. Jeremiah sees a branch of an almond tree, which God interprets as a sign that he is watching to fulfill his word. Then Jeremiah sees a boiling pot tilting from the north, which God explains as the disaster he is about to bring on Judah from the north.
The chapter closes with God commissioning Jeremiah to stand against kings, officials, priests, and people. He will be opposed by everyone, but God promises to make him like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, and to deliver him.
Verse 1. These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.
Verse 2. The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah,
Verse 3. and through the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.
Verse 4. The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Verse 5. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Verse 6. “Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”
Verse 7. But the LORD told me: “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ For to everyone I send you, you must go, and all that I command you, you must speak.
Verse 8. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.
Verse 9. Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
Verse 10. See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”
Verse 11. And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” “I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied.
Verse 12. “You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.”
Verse 13. Again the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “What do you see?” “I see a boiling pot,” I replied, “and it is tilting toward us from the north.”
Verse 14. Then the LORD said to me, “Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land.
Verse 15. For I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah.
Verse 16. I will pronounce My judgments against them for all their wickedness, because they have forsaken Me, and they have burned incense to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.
Verse 17. Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them.
Verse 18. Now behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.
Verse 19. They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.
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