8. Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
9. Then the Lord stretched out his hand, touched my lips, and said to me, “Listen, I am giving you the words you must speak.
10. Today I give you authority over nations and kingdoms to uproot and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
11. The Lord asked me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”I answered, “A branch of an almond tree.”
12. “You are right,” the Lord said, “and I am watching to see that my words come true.”
13. Then the Lord spoke to me again. “What else do you see?” he asked.I answered, “I see a pot boiling in the north, and it is about to tip over this way.”