ALMOND — and, one letter's sound away, WATCHING. Jeremiah sees 'a branch of an almond tree' (SHAQED), and God answers, 'you have seen well, for I am WATCHING (SHOQED) over my word to do it' (1:11-12). The almond is the first tree to wake and blossom in the Judean spring — the 'wakeful' or 'watcher' tree — so the pun makes the vision mean God is AWAKE over his word, watching to perform it. ⚠️ The wordplay cannot fully cross into English; the KJV reads the root as speed ('I will hasten my word'), most modern versions as watchfulness. → first discussed at Jer 1:11