Jeremiah 18
1 Yahweh gave another message to me. [He said],
The word that came from Jeremias to the Lord, saying:
2 “Go to the shop of the man who makes clay pots. I will give you a message there.”
Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there thou shalt hear my words.
3 So I went to that shop, and I saw the man who makes pots. He was working at the wheel [that he uses to form pots].
And I went down into the potter’s house, and behold he was doing a work on the wheel.
4 But when he finished making one jar, it was not as good as he hoped/wanted it to be. [So], he took that clay and formed it into another jar, shaping it as he desired.
And the vessel was broken which he was making with clay with his hands: and turning he made another vessel, as it seemed good in his eyes to make it.
5 Then Yahweh gave me this message:
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
6 “Perhaps the people of Israel [think that] I cannot do to them like this man who makes pots has done [RHQ]. [But what they think is wrong]. I [can control what happens to them like] this man [controls what he does with the clay] in his hands.
Cannot I do with you as this potter, saith the Lord? behold as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
7 There may be a time when I proclaim that I will get rid of a nation or kingdom, [like someone] pulls up [a plant with its roots], and smashes it, and destroys it.
I will suddenly speak against a nation, and against a kingdom, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy it.
8 But if [the people of] that nation repent of doing evil things, I will not send to them the disasters that I planned to send.
If that nation against which I have spoken, shall repent of their evil, I also will repent of the evil that I have thought to do to them.
9 And there may be a time when I proclaim that I will establish a nation or kingdom and cause it to be strong [MET].
And I will suddenly speak of a nation and of a kingdom, to build up and plant it.
10 But if [the people of] that nation [start to] do evil things and refuse to obey me, then I will not bless them as I said that I would do.
If it shall do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice: I will repent of the good that I have spoken to do unto it.
11 Therefore, [Jeremiah, go and warn all] the people in Jerusalem and [in other places] in Judah. Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh says: “I am planning to cause you to experience a disaster [DOU]. [So], each of you should turn from your evil behavior and start doing what is right, [in order that you will not experience that disaster].”’’”
Now therefore tell the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: let every man of you return from his evil way, and make ye your ways and your doings good.
12 [So I told that message to the people], but they replied, “It is useless [for you to tell us that]. We will [continue to] be stubborn and behave as we want to.”
And they said: We have no hopes: for we will go after our own thoughts, and we will do every one according to the perverseness of his evil heart.
13 So, this is what Yahweh says: “Ask the [people who live in other] nations if they have [RHQ] ever heard of such a thing. My Israeli people, who [have been pure like] [MET] virgins, have done a terrible thing!
Therefore thus saith the Lord: Ask among the nations: Who hath heard such horrible things, as the virgin of Israel hath done to excess?
14 The snow certainly never [RHQ] completely disappears/melts from the rocky slopes of the mountains in Lebanon. The cold streams that flow down from those distant mountains never [RHQ] cease flowing.
Shall now the snow of Libanus fail from the rock of the field? or can the cold waters that gush out and run down, be taken away?
15 But my people [are not as reliable as those streams: ] They have abandoned me. They burn incense to [honor/worship] worthless idols. [It is as though] they have stumbled as they walked along very old roads that are good roads, and now, instead, they are walking on dirt paths.
Because my people have forgotten me, sacrificing in vain, and stumbling in their ways, in ancient paths, to walk by them in a way not trodden:
16 Therefore, their land will become desolate, and people who see it will hiss [to ridicule it]. Everyone who passes by will be appalled; they will shake their heads [to show that they are shocked].
That their land might be given up to desolation, and to a perpetual hissing: every one that shall pass by it, shall be astonished, and wag his head.
17 I will scatter the people when their enemies [attack them] like dust is scattered by an east wind. And when they experience all those difficulties/disasters, I will turn my back on them [and refuse] to help them.”
As a burning will I scatter them before the enemy: I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their destruction.
18 Then some of the people said, “Come, let’s plan to attack Jeremiah. We have [many] priests who teach us God’s laws, and wise men who give us good advice, and prophets who tell us [what will happen. We do not need Jeremiah!] So, let’s slander him and not pay attention to anything that he says.”
And they said: Come, and let us invent devices 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 let us give no heed to all his words.
19 [Then I prayed], “Yahweh, [please] listen to me! And listen to what my enemies are saying about me.
Give heed to me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my adversaries.
20 I am doing things that are good, so it is disgusting that [RHQ] they are paying me back by doing evil [things to me]. [It is as though] they have dug a pit for me [to fall into] and die. Do not forget that [one time] I stood in front of you and pleaded for you [to help them], and I tried to prevent you from [punishing them] [MTY], even though you were very angry with them.
Shall evil be rendered for good, because they have digged a pit for my soul? Remember that I have stood in thy sight, so speak good for them, and turn away thy indignation from them.
21 So [now], allow their children to die from hunger! Or cause them to be killed by [their enemies’] swords! Cause their wives to become widows, whose children are all dead! Cause their [old] men to die in a plague, and cause their young men to be killed in battles!
Therefore deliver up their children to famine, and bring them into the hands of the sword: let their wives be bereaved of children and widows: and let their husbands be slain by death: let their young men be stabbed with the sword in battle.
22 Cause people to scream in their homes when enemy soldiers suddenly come into their houses! [Cause all those things to happen to them] because they [want to kill me]. [It is as though] they have dug a pit for me [to fall into], and they have hidden traps along my path.
Let a cry be heard out of their houses: for thou shalt bring the robber upon them suddenly: because they have digged a pit to take me, and have hid snares for my feet.
23 Yahweh, you know all the things that they are planning to do to kill me. Do not forgive them for their crimes or blot out [the record of] their sins. Cause them to be destroyed; punish them because of your being angry [with them]!”
But thou, O Lord, knowest all their counsel against me unto death: forgive not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from thy sight: let them be overthrown before thy eyes, in the time of thy wrath do thou destroy them.
