Jeremiah 18
1 This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:
2 Go down right away to the potter's house. I will give you my message there.
“Rise up and descend into the house of the potter, and there you will hear my words.”
3 I went down to the potter's house and saw him working at his potter's wheel.
And I descended into the house of the potter, and behold, he was making a work on the wheel.
4 But the pot that he was making from the clay went wrong. So he made it into something different as he thought best.
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.
5 The Lord's message came to me, saying,
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
6 People of Israel, declares the Lord, can't I deal with you just like this potter does with his clay? I hold you in my hand just like clay in the potter's hand, people of Israel.
“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.
7 At one time it could happen that I announce that a nation or a kingdom is going to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.
Suddenly, I will speak against a nation and against a kingdom, so that I may uproot, and destroy, and scatter it.
8 However, if that nation I warned gives up its evil ways, then I will change my mind regarding the disaster I was about to bring.
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.
9 At another time I could announce that I'm going to build up and give power to a nation or a kingdom.
And soon, I will speak about a nation and about a kingdom, so that I may build and plant it.
10 But if it does evil in my sight and refuses to listen to my voice, then I will change my mind regarding the good I had planned for it.
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.
11 So tell the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says: Watch out! I am preparing disaster for you, and working out a plan against you. All of you, give up your evil ways. Live right and act right!
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.”
12 But they'll say, “We just can't! We'll do whatever we want. Each of us will stubbornly follow our own evil thinking.”
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.”
13 Consequently this is what the Lord says: Ask around the nations—has anybody ever heard anything like this? Virgin Israel has acted really badly.
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?
14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever disappear from its rocky mountain-tops? Do its cool waters that flow from such distant sources ever dry up?
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?
15 But my people have rejected me! They burn incense to useless idols which trip them up, making them leave the old roads in order to walk down unmade paths instead of the highway.
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.
16 They have turned their country into a horrific wasteland, a place that will always be treated with contempt. People passing by will be shocked, shaking their heads in disbelief.
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.
17 Like a strong wind from the east I will scatter them before the enemy. I will turn my back on them and not look at them when their time of trouble comes.
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.”
18 Some people decided, “We need a plan to deal with Jeremiah. There'll still be priests to explain the law, there'll still be wise people to give advice, and there'll still be prophets to give prophecies. Let's organize a smear campaign against him so we don't have to listen to a word he says.”
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.”
19 Lord, please pay attention to what's happening to me! Listen to what my accusers are saying!
Attend to me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my adversaries.
20 Should good be paid back with evil? Yet they have dug a pit to trap me! Remember how I stood before you to plead on their behalf, to stop you being angry with them?
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.
21 But now may their children starve; may they be killed by the sword. May their wives lose their children and their husbands; may their husbands die from disease; may their young men be killed in battle.
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.
22 May cries of agony be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring invaders to attack them, because they dug a pit to capture me and hid traps to catch me as I walk along.
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.
23 But Lord, you know about all their plots to try and kill me. Don't forgive their wickedness; don't wipe away their sin. Bring them down! Deal with them when you're angry!
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.
