18:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
18:2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.”
18:3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.
18:4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
18:6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
18:7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed,
18:8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.
18:9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted,
18:10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
18:11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’
18:12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
18:13 Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard anything like this? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel.
18:14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever cease to flow?
18:15 Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways and in the ancient paths. They made them walk in bypaths and on roads not built up.
18:16 Their land will be laid waste, an object of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads.
18:17 Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them my back and not my face in the day of their disaster.”
18:18 They said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not be lost, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.”
18:19 Listen to me, O LORD; hear what my accusers are saying!
18:20 Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember that I stood before you and spoke in their behalf to turn your wrath away from them.
18:21 So give their children over to famine; hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives be made childless and widows; let their men be put to death, their young men slain by the sword in battle.
18:22 Let a cry be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring invaders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.
18:23 But you know, O LORD, all their plots to kill me. Do not forgive their crimes or blot out their sins from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.
18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,
18:2 Arise and go down to the potter s house, and there I will let you hear My words.
18:3 So I went down to the potter s house, and he was there doing work at his wheel.
18:4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter s hand; so he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good for the potter to make.
18:5 And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
18:6 Am I not able to do with you, O house of Israel, as this potter does? declares Jehovah. Indeed, as the clay is in the hand of the potter, so you are in My hand, O house of Israel.
18:7 At the moment that I speak about a nation or about a kingdom, to pluck it up or to break it down or to destroy it,
18:8 And if that nation concerning which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will repent of the evil that I intended to do to it.
18:9 And at the moment that I speak about a nation or a kingdom, to build it up or to plant it,
18:10 And if it does evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, then I will repent of the good with which I said I would benefit it.
18:11 And now speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Jehovah, Look, I am forming evil against you and devising a plan against you. Return now, each one of you from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.
18:12 But they say, It is hopeless! For we will walk after our own devices and everyone will do according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.
18:13 Therefore thus says Jehovah, / Ask now among the nations, / Who has heard such things? / The virgin of Israel / Has done a very horrible thing.
18:14 Does the snow of Lebanon / Leave the rock of the field? / Or will the cold flowing waters / Coming from afar be dried up?
18:15 But My people have forgotten Me; / They burn incense to vanity, And they have been stumbled in their ways / From the ancient paths / To walk on bypaths, / On a way which is not cast up,
18:16 To make their land an astonishment, / A thing to be hissed at forever. / Everyone who passes by will be astonished / And shake his head.
18:17 Like the east wind I will scatter them / Before the enemy; / I will show them My back and not My face / In the day of their calamity.
18:18 Then they said, Come, let us devise plots against Jeremiah; for the law will not perish from the priest or counsel from the wise man or a word from the prophet. Come, let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
18:19 Give heed to me, O Jehovah, / And listen to the voice of those who contend with me.
18:20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? / For they have dug a pit for my life. / Remember how I stood before You / To speak good for their sake, / To turn away Your wrath from them.
18:21 Therefore deliver up their children to famine, / And give them over to the power of the sword; / And let their wives become / Bereaved of child and be widows; / And let their men be slaughtered to death, / Their young men struck by the sword in battle.
18:22 Let a cry be heard from their houses / When You suddenly bring upon them a troop; / For they have dug a pit to capture me / And have hidden snares for my feet.
18:23 Yet You, O Jehovah, know / All their counsel against me for my death. / Do not be propitious to their iniquity, / And do not blot out their sin from before You; / But let them be overthrown before You; / Deal with them in the time of Your anger.