This haftarah opens the book of Jeremiah with his own prophetic commissioning: God tells him that before he was formed in the womb, he was already known, and before he was born, he was already consecrated and appointed as a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah objects that he is too young and does not know how to speak, and God answers that he must not say this, since he will go wherever sent and speak whatever is commanded, God's own hand reaching out to touch his mouth and place the words directly there.
Jeremiah is then shown two visions, the branch of an almond tree, taken as a sign that God is watching to see His word fulfilled, and a boiling pot tilting from the north, understood as a coming disaster that will pour out from that direction onto the land, a foreshadowing of the Babylonian threat that will define the rest of Jeremiah's prophetic career.
The haftarah closes with God instructing Jeremiah to recall Israel's early devotion, following God through the wilderness in a land not sown, a time remembered with tenderness before the harsher accusations that will occupy much of the rest of the book, closing this opening chapter on a brief note of remembered loyalty rather than immediate condemnation.