Jeremiah 1:1-10 - Yahweh Appoints Jeremiah As A Prophet To The Nations
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: 2 to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
4 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 "Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. Before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."
6 Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD. Behold, I do not know how to speak; for I am a child."
7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am a child;' for to whoever I shall send you, you shall go, and whatever I shall command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid because of them; for I am with you to deliver you," says the LORD.
9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 Behold, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."