5 “I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.”
6 I answered, “Sovereign Lord, I don't know how to speak; I am too young.”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say that you are too young, but go to the people I send you to, and tell them everything I command you to say.
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.”