Jeremiah 18

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

²Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

³Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

⁴And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

⁵Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁶O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

⁷At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

⁸If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

⁹And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;

¹⁰If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

¹¹Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

¹²And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

¹³Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

¹⁴Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?

¹⁵Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;

¹⁶To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.

¹⁷I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

¹⁸Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

¹⁹Give heed to me, O Lord, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.

²⁰Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.

²¹Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

²²Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.

²³Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

Jeremiah 18

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

²Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

³And I went down to the potter's house; and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

⁴And the vessel that he made was marred, as clay, in the hand of the potter; and he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make.

⁵And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

⁶House of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, house of Israel.

⁷At the moment that I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy,

⁸if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, then I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

⁹And at the moment that I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant,

¹⁰if it do evil in my sight, that it hearken not unto my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them.

¹¹And now, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I prepare evil against you, and devise a device against you: turn ye then every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.

¹²But they say, There is no hope; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will each one do [according to] the stubbornness of his evil heart.

¹³Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ask ye now among the nations, Who hath heard such things? The virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

¹⁴Shall the snow of Lebanon cease from the rock of the field? Shall the cool flowing waters coming from afar be dried up?

¹⁵For my people hath forgotten me: they burn incense to vanity; and they have caused them to stumble in their ways, the ancient paths, to walk in by-paths of a way not cast up;

¹⁶to make their land an astonishment, a perpetual hissing: every one that passeth by shall be astonished, and shake his head.

¹⁷As with an east wind will I scatter them before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

¹⁸And they said, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor word from the prophet. Come and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

¹⁹Jehovah, give heed to me, and listen to the voice of those that contend with me.

²⁰Shall evil be recompensed for good? For they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath from them.

²¹Therefore give up their children to the famine, and deliver them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of children and be widows; and let their men be swept off by death, their young men be smitten by the sword in battle.

²²Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have digged a pit to take me, and have hidden snares for my feet.

²³And thou, Jehovah, knowest all their counsel against me to slay me. Forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee: deal with them in the time of thine anger.