1 These are the words {dibre: spoken messages} of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth {Anathoth: priest town} in the land of Benjamin.
2 The word of the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Revealer} came to him in the days {bimei: time frame} of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3 It also came to pass in the days of Jehoiakim {Yehoiakim: Judean king}, son of Josiah, king of Judah, and continued until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile {gelut: forced removal} of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
4 And the word{dabar: divine message} of the LORD{YHWH, Divine Communicator} came to me, saying,
5 Before I {YHWH, Foreknowing Shaper} formed you in the womb, I knew you; and before you came out from the womb, I consecrated you {qadash: set apart}; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH, Supreme Sovereign}! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am a youth {na’ar: inexperienced adolescent}.”
7 But the LORD {YHWH, Prophetic Sender} said to me, “Do not say ‘I am a youth {na'ar: young man},’ for you will go to everyone I send you, and you will speak all that I command you.”
8 Do not fear their faces {panim: threatening presence}, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Protector}.
9 Then the LORD {YHWH, Covenant LORD} stretched out His hand {yad: hand of power} and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.”
10 See, I {YHWH, Sovereign Appointer} have appointed you this day over the nations {goyim: foreign peoples} and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.
11 And the word {dabar: divine message} of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Keeper} came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a rod {maqqel: branchlike staff}.”
12 Then the LORD {YHWH, Promise Keeper} said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching {shoqed: keeping vigil} over my word to bring it about.”
13 And the word of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Communicator} came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, and its face is toward the north {tzafon: threatening orientation}.”
14 Then the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Sovereign} said to me, “From the north the disaster {raah: destructive judgment} shall be unleashed upon all who dwell in the land.”
15 For behold, I am calling all the families {mishpechot: clans} of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Enforcer}. They shall come, and each one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah.
16 And I {YHWH, Covenant Judge} will speak My judgments {mishpatay: legal decisions} against them concerning all their evil, for they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods and have bowed down to the works of their own hands.
17 But you, gird up your waist {ezor: brace yourself} and arise, and you shall speak to them all that I {YHWH, Commissioning Speaker} command you. Do not be dismayed before them, lest I dismay you before them.
18 And I {YHWH, Fortress Builder} behold that I have made you this day a fortified city {mivtsar: defended stronghold}, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against all the land, against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and its people.
19 “They will fight {nilchamu: wage war} against you, but they will not prevail against you, for I am with you,” declares the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Defender}, “to deliver you.”