Jeremiah 18

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

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

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

Rise, and thou hast gone down [to] the potter's house, and there I cause thee to hear My words;

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

and I go down [to] the potter's house, and lo, he is doing a work 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 marred is the vessel that he is making, as clay in the hand of the potter, and he hath turned and he maketh it another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make.

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

And there is a word of Jehovah 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.

As this potter am I not able to do to you? O house of Israel, an affirmation of Jehovah. Lo, as clay in the hand of the potter, So [are] ye in My hand, O house of Israel.

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

The moment I speak concerning a nation, And concerning a kingdom, To pluck up and to break down, and to destroy,

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 hath turned from its evil, Because I have spoken against it, Then I have repented of the evil that I thought to do to it.

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

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

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 it hath done the evil thing in Mine eyes, So as not to hearken to My voice, Then I have repented of the good That I have spoken of doing to it.

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, speak, I pray thee, unto men of Judah, And against inhabitants of Jerusalem, Saying: Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am framing against you evil, And devising against you a device, Turn back, I pray you, each from his evil way And amen your ways and your doings.

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 have said, It is incurable, For after our own devices we do go, And each the stubbornness of his evil heart we do.

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 said Jehovah: Ask, I pray you, among the nations, Who hath heard like these? A very horrible thing hath the virgin of Israel 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?

Doth snow of Lebanon Cease from the rock of the field? Failed are the cold strange waters that flow?

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.

But My people have forgotten Me, to a vain thing they make perfume, And they cause them to stumble in their ways — paths of old, To walk in paths — a way not raised up,

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 become a desolation, A hissing age-during, Every passer by it is astonished, And bemoaneth with his head.

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.”

As an east wind I scatter them before an enemy, The neck, and not the face, I shew them, In the day of their calamity.'

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.”

And they say, Come, And we devise against Jeremiah devices, For law doth not perish from the priest, Nor counsel from the wise, Nor the word from the prophet, Come, and we smite him with the tongue, And we do not attend to any of his words.

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

Give attention, O Jehovah, unto me, And hearken to the voice of those contending with me.

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.

Is evil recompensed instead of good, That they have dug a pit for my soul? Remember my standing before Thee to speak good of them, To turn back Thy 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, give up their sons to famine, And cause them to run on the sides of the sword, And their wives are bereaved and widows, And their men are slain by death, Their young men smitten by sword in battle,

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.

A cry is heard from their houses, For Thou bringest against them suddenly a troop, For they dug a pit to capture me, And snares they have hidden for my feet.

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 Thou, O Jehovah, Thou hast known, All their counsel against me [is] for death, Thou dost not cover over their iniquity, Nor their sin from before Thee blottest out, And they are made to stumble before Thee, In the time of Thine anger work against them!