Loading…

Jeremiah 18:1–6

The Potter and the Clay

18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Arise, and go down to qthe potter’s house, and there I will let you hear1 my words.” So I went down to rthe potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was sspoiled in the potter’s hand, and the reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, ucan I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. vBehold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Read more Explain verse



Jeremiah 18:1–6 — The New International Version (NIV)

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

Jeremiah 18:1–6 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

Jeremiah 18:1–6 — New Living Translation (NLT)

The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.

Then the Lord gave me this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.

Jeremiah 18:1–6 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!

Jeremiah 18:1–6 — New Century Version (NCV)

This is the word the Lord spoke to Jeremiah: “Go down to the potter’s house, and I will give you my message there.” So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working at the potter’s wheel. He was using his hands to make a pot from clay, but something went wrong with it. So he used that clay to make another pot the way he wanted it to be.

Then the Lord spoke his word to me: “Family of Israel, can’t I do the same thing with you?” says the Lord. “You are in my hands like the clay in the potter’s hands.

Jeremiah 18:1–6 — American Standard Version (ASV)

The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels. And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel.

Jeremiah 18:1–6 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. And I went down to the potter’s house; and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made was marred, as clay, in the hand of the potter; and he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, House of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are ye in my hand, house of Israel.

Jeremiah 18:1–6 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said, “Go to the potter’s house. There I will give you my message.” 

I went to the potter’s house, and he was working there at his wheel. Whenever a clay pot he was working on was ruined, he would rework it into a new clay pot the way he wanted to make it. 

The Lord spoke his word to me. The Lord asked, “Nation of Israel, can’t I do with you as this potter does with clay? Nation of Israel, you are like the clay in the potter’s hands. 

Jeremiah 18:1–6 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will reveal My words to you.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel. But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.

The word of the Lord came to me: “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel.

Jeremiah 18:1–6 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Jeremiah 18:1–6 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “Stand up and go down to the house of the potter, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the house of the potter and look, there he was doing work at the potter’s wheels. And the vessel that he was making with the clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter, so he made again another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make.

And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?” declares Yahweh. “Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Jeremiah 18:1–6 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

A message came to me from the Lord. He said, “Go down to the potter’s house. I will give you my message there.”

So I went down to the potter’s house. I saw him working at his wheel. His hands were shaping a pot out of clay. But he saw that something was wrong with it. So he formed it into another pot. He shaped it in the way that seemed best to him.

Then the Lord’s message came to me. He said, “People of Israel, I can do with you just as this potter does,” announces the Lord. “The clay is in the potter’s hand. And you are in my hand, people of Israel.

Jeremiah 18:1–6 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying,

Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.”

Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.

But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,

Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?declares the Lord. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.


A service of Logos Bible Software