1. My name is Jeremiah. I am a priest, and my father Hilkiah and everyone else in my family are from Anathoth in the territory of the Benjamin tribe. This book contains the things that the Lord told me to say.
2. The Lord first spoke to me in the thirteenth year that Josiah was king of Judah,
3. and he continued to speak to me during the rule of Josiah's son Jehoiakim. The last time the Lord spoke to me was in the fifth month of the eleventh year that Josiah's son Zedekiah was king. That was also when the people of Jerusalem were taken away as prisoners.
4. The Lord said:
5. “Jeremiah, I am your Creator,and before you were born,I chose you to speak for meto the nations.”
6. I replied, “I'm not a good speaker, Lord, and I'm too young.”
7. “Don't say you're too young,” the Lord answered. “If I tell you to go and speak to someone, then go! And when I tell you what to say, don't leave out a word!
8. I promise to be with you and keep you safe, so don't be afraid.”
9. The Lord reached out his hand, then he touched my mouth and said, “I am giving you the words to say,
10. and I am sending you with authority to speak to the nations for me. You will tell them of doom and destruction, and of rising and rebuilding again.”
11. The Lord showed me something in a vision. Then he asked, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”I answered, “A branch of almonds that ripen early.”