Jeremiah 18

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:

The word that came from the Lord to

2 “Rise up and descend into the house of the potter, and there you will hear my words.”

Jeremias, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there you shall hear my words.

3 And I descended into the house of the potter, and behold, he was making a work on the wheel.

So I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was making a vessel on the stones.

4 And the vessel, which he was making with his hands out of clay, broke. And turning away, he made another vessel, for it had been pleasing in his eyes to make it.

And the vessel which he was making with his hands fell: so he made it again another vessel, as it seemed good to him to make [it].

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

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

6 “Am I not able to do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done, says the Lord? Behold, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Shall I not be able, O house of Israel, to do to you as this potter? behold, as the clay of the potter are you in my hands.

7 Suddenly, I will speak against a nation and against a kingdom, so that I may uproot, and destroy, and scatter it.

[If] I shall pronounce a decree upon a nation, or upon a kingdom, to cut them off, and to destroy [them];

8 If that nation, against which I have spoken, will repent from their evil, I too will repent from the evil that I have decided I would do to them.

and that nation turn from all their sins, then will I repent of the evils which I purposed to do to them.

9 And soon, I will speak about a nation and about a kingdom, so that I may build and plant it.

And [if] I shall pronounce a decree upon a nation and kingdom, to rebuild and to plant [it];

10 If it does evil in my sight, so as not to listen to my voice, I will repent of the good that I have said I would do to it.

and they do evil before me, so as not to listen to my voice, then will I repent of the good which I spoke of, to do it to them.

11 Now, therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am forming an evil against you, and I am considering a plan against you. Let each one of you return from his evil way, and direct your ways and your intentions well.”

And now say to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Behold, I prepare evils against you, and devise a device against you: let every one turn now from his evil way, and amend your practices.

12 And they said: “We have lost hope. And so we will follow our own thoughts, and each of us will act according to the depravity of his own evil heart.”

And they said, We will quit ourselves like men, for we will pursue our perverse ways, and we will perform each the lusts of his evil heart.

13 For this reason, thus says the Lord: “Inquire among the Gentiles. Who has heard of such horrible things as the virgin of Israel has done to excess?

Therefore thus says the Lord; Enquire now amongst the nations, who has heard such very horrible things as the virgin of Israel has done?

14 Do the snows of Lebanon fail to fall on the rocks of the field? Or are the cold waters, which burst forth and flow down, able to be rooted out?

Will fertilising streams fail [to flow] from a rock, or snow [fail] from Libanus? will water violently impelled by the wind turn aside?

15 Yet my people have forgotten me, offering useless libations, and stumbling in their ways, in the paths of the world, so that they walk by these on an unmarked route.

For my people have forgotten me, they have offered incense in vain, and they fail in their ways, [leaving] the ancient tracks, to enter upon impassable paths;

16 And so their land has been given over to desolation and to perpetual hissing. Each one who passes by will be astonished and will shake his head.

to make their land a desolation, and a perpetual hissing; all that go through it shall be amazed, and shall shake their heads.

17 Like a burning wind, I will disperse them in the sight the enemy. I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their perdition.”

I will scatter them before their enemies like an east wind; I will show them the day of their destruction.

18 And they said: “Come, and let us devise a plan against Jeremiah. For the law will not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor a sermon from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us pay no attention to any of his words.”

Then they said, Come, and let us devise a device against Jeremias; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and we will hear all his words.

19 Attend to me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my adversaries.

Hear me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my pleading.

20 Should evil be rendered for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul! Remember that I have stood in your sight, so as to speak on their behalf for good, and to avert your indignation from them.

Forasmuch as evil is rewarded for good; for they have spoken words against my soul, and they have hidden the punishment they [meant] for me; remember that I stood before your face, to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.

21 Because of this, give their sons over to famine, and bring them to the hand of the sword. Let their wives be widows without children. And let their husbands be slain by death. Let their youths be stabbed with the sword in battle.

Therefore do you deliver their sons to famine, and gather them to the power of the sword: let their women be childless and widows; and let their men be cut off by death, and their young men fall by the sword in war.

22 Let an outcry be heard from their houses. For you will lead the robber upon them suddenly. For they have dug a pit, so that they may seize me, and they have hidden snares for my feet.

Let there be a cry in their houses: you shall bring upon them robbers suddenly: for they have formed a plan to take me, and have hidden snares for me.

23 But you, O Lord, know all their plans against me unto death. May you not forgive their iniquity, and do not allow their sin be taken away from your face. Let them be thrown down in your sight, in the time of your fury, so that you may destroy them.

And you, Lord, know all their deadly counsel against me: account not their iniquities guiltless, and blot not out their sins from before you: let their weakness come before you; deal with them in the time of your wrath.