Two Visions

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^[a] 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.”

¹⁴ He said to me, “Destruction will boil over from the north on all who live in this land, ¹⁵ because I am calling all the nations in the north to come. Their kings will set up their thrones at the gates of Jerusalem and around its walls and also around the other cities of Judah. ¹⁶ I will punish my people because they have sinned; they have abandoned me, have offered sacrifices to other gods, and have made idols and worshiped them. ¹⁷ Get ready, Jeremiah; go and tell them everything I command you to say. Do not be afraid of them now, or I will make you even more afraid when you are with them. ^18-19 Listen, Jeremiah! Everyone in this land—the kings of Judah, the officials, the priests, and the people—will be against you. But today I am giving you the strength to resist them; you will be like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. They will not defeat you, for I will be with you to protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”