5. "Before I created you in the womb I knew you;before you were born I set you apart;I made you a prophet to the nations."
6. "Ah, Lord God," I said, "I don’t know how to speakbecause I’m only a child."
7. The Lord responded,"Don’t say, ‘I’m only a child.’Where I send you, you must go;what I tell you, you must say.
8. Don’t be afraid of them,because I’m with you to rescue you,"declares the Lord.
9. Then the Lord stretched out his hand,touched my mouth, and said to me,"I’m putting my words in your mouth.
10. This very day I appoint you over nations and empires,to dig up and pull down,to destroy and demolish,to build and plant."
11. The Lord asked me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?"I said, "A branch of an almond tree."