4. Now the word of יהוה came to me, saying,
5. “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I did set you apart – I appointed you a prophet to nations.”
6. And said I, “Ah, Master יהוה! See, I do not know how to speak, for I am a youth.”
7. And יהוה said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ but go to all to whom I send you, and speak whatever I command you.
8. “Do not fear their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares יהוה.
9. Then יהוה put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and יהוה said to me, “See, I have put My words in your mouth.
10. “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the reigns, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
11. And the word of יהוה came to me, saying, “What do you see, Yirmeyahu?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
12. And יהוה said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to do it.”
13. And the word of יהוה came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north.”
14. And יהוה said to me, “Out of the north evil is set loose on all the inhabitants of the land.
15. “For look, I am calling all the clans of the reigns of the north,” declares יהוה. “And they shall come and each one set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Yerushalayim, against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Yehuḏah.
16. “And I shall pronounce My judgments against them concerning all their evil, because they have forsaken Me, burned incense to other mighty ones, and bowed themselves to the works of their own hands.
17. “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not break down before their faces, lest I break you before them.