Jeremiah 1:11 (DRB)

Passage

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said: I see a rod watching.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 1:9 And the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and the Lord said to me: Behold I have given my words in thy mouth:

Jeremiah 1:10 Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant.

Jeremiah 1:11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said: I see a rod watching.

Jeremiah 1:12 And the Lord said to me: Thou hast seen well: for I will watch over my word to perform it.

Jeremiah 1:13 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time saying: What seest thou? And I said: I see a boiling caldron, and the face thereof from the face of the north.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "word", "lord", "came", "saying", "seest", "thou", "jeremiah", and "said". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "word" and "lord", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "Lo I have set thee this day..." into verse 12's "And the Lord said to me Thou...", so "word" and "lord" belong inside that flow. In Jeremiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "word" and "lord" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.