Then said I: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.”
- KJV Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
- BSB “Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”
- NASB Then I said, “Oh, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.”
- NLT “O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jeremiah objects that he is too young and unable to speak. His reluctance reveals honest human weakness.
Overview
Like Moses before him, Jeremiah protests his inadequacy, pleading youth and inability. His hesitation shows that God's calling often meets human fear and self-doubt. Yet such weakness becomes the stage on which God's strength is displayed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Exod 4:10–16Moses said to Yahweh, “O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”
- Exod 6:12Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, “Behold, the children of Israel haven’t listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?”
- Jer 32:17“Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you,
- 1 Kgs 3:7–9Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. I am just a little child. I don’t know how to go out or come in.
- Exod 6:30Moses said before Yahweh, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?”
- Exod 4:1Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’”
- Jer 14:13Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, the prophets tell them, ‘You will not see the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.’”
- Jer 4:10Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You shall have peace;’ whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”
- Isa 6:5Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 1:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.