A reading from the book of Jeremiah.

The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkaya, one of the priests who were in Anathothoth in the land of

Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of

Judah, in the 13th year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoakim, the son of Josiah, King of Judah,

and until the end of the 11th year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the

captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month. Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.

I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Then I said, Ah, Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak,

for I am only a youth. But the Lord said to me, do not say I am only a youth, for to all to whom

I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command

you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the

Lord. Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me,

Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over

kingdoms, to pluck up and to break this day over nations and over kingdoms,

to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build, and to plant. And the

word of the Lord came to me saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see an almond branch.

Then the Lord said to me, you have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform

it. The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, what do you see? And I said, I see a boiling

pot facing away from the north. Then the Lord said to me, out of the north, disaster shall be let loose

upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land.

For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord,

and they shall come, and everyone shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,

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