Jeremiah 18
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying:
2 “Go down at once to the potter’s house, and there I will reveal My message to you.”
Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there will I cause thee to hear my words.
3 So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working at the wheel.
So I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was at work at the wheel.
4 But the vessel that he was shaping from the clay became flawed in his hand; so he formed it into another vessel, as it seemed best for him to do.
And the vessel which he was making of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he began anew and made it another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Then came the word of Jehovah to me, saying:
6 “O house of Israel, declares the LORD, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay? Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
Cannot I do after the manner of this potter With respect to you. O house of Israel, saith Jehovah? Behold, as the clay is in the hand of the potter, So are ye in my hand, O house of Israel!
7 At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.
Whenever I speak concerning a nation or a kingdom, That I will pluck it up, cast it down, or destroy it,
8 But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.
If that nation shall turn from its wickedness On account of which I threatened it, Then will I repent of the evil which I purposed to do to it.
9 And if at another time I announce that I will build up and establish a nation or kingdom,
And whenever I speak concerning a nation or a kingdom, That I will build it, or plant it,
10 and if it does evil in My sight and does not listen to My voice, then I will relent of the good I had intended for it.
And it shall do that which is evil in my sight, And not hearken to my voice, Then will I repent of the good with which I promised to bless them.
11 Now therefore, tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am planning a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways, and correct your ways and deeds.’
And now speak to the men of Judah, And to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I am framing evil against you, And meditating a design against you; Return ye now every one from his evil way, And amend your ways and your doings.
12 But they will reply, ‘It is hopeless. We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
But they say, “There is no remedy, For we will walk after our own devices, And we will practise every one the perverseness of his evil heart.”
13 Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Inquire ye now among the nations, Who hath heard such things as these? The virgin of Israel hath done a deed of horror.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave its rocky slopes? Or do its cool waters flowing from a distance ever run dry?
Shall the snow from the rocks of Lebanon forsake my fields? Or shall the cold flowing waters, that come from afar, be dried up?
15 Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.
Yet my people have forgotten me, And burned incense to vanity; They stumble in their paths, the old ways, And walk in ways that have not been thrown up,
16 They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
To make their land a desolation, A perpetual hissing; Every one that passeth through it shall be amazed, And shake his head.
17 I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.”
I will scatter them before the enemy, as with the east wind; I will show them the back, and not the face, In the day of their calamity.
18 Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”
But they say, “Come, let us devise measures against Jeremiah; For the law shall not perish from the priest, Nor counsel from the wise, Nor the word from the prophet; Come, let us smite him with the tongue, And not give heed to any of his words.”
19 Attend to me, O LORD. Hear what my accusers are saying!
Give heed to me, O Jehovah, And hear the voice of my adversaries!
20 Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them.
Shall evil be returned for good? For they have digged a pit for me. Remember how I have stood before thee, To announce good to them, And to turn away thy wrath from them!
21 Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
Therefore give thou up their sons to famine, And deliver them to the edge of the sword! Let their wives be childless and widows, Let their men be slain by pestilence, And their young men fall by the sword in battle!
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.
Let a cry be heard from their houses, When thou shalt bring a troop upon them suddenly! For they have digged a pit to take me, And hidden snares for my feet.
23 But You, O LORD, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their guilt or blot out their sin from Your sight. Let them be overthrown before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger.
Thou, O Jehovah, knowest all their plots against my life! Cover not their iniquity, And blot not out their sin from thy sight! But let them be overthrown before thee; Deal with them in the time of thy wrath!
