“Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.”
King James Version (KJV)
1:7 Thou shalt speak - Fear not, I will make thee eloquent and courageous.
1:9 Then - God having excited the prophet by command and promise, now in a vision confirms him, either by the hand of an angel, or by himself in some visible shape.
1:10 The kingdoms - Having now received his commission, he is directed to whom he is to go; to the greatest, not only single persons, but whole nations, as the Babylonians, Persians, and Egyptians. To pull down - That is, to prophecy that I will pull down; which I will as certainly effect, as if thou hadst done it thyself: for, according to scripture - usage, the prophets are said to do that which they foretell shall come to pass. To plant - Metaphors taken from architects and gardeners: either the former words relate to the enemies of God, and the latter to his friends; or rather to both conditionally: if they repent, he will build them up, he will increase their families, and settle them in the land; if they do not, he will root them up, and pull them down.