Jeremiah 18

CHAPTER 18

The Potter and the Clay

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh saying,

²“Arise and ^ago down to the potter’s house, and there I will make you hear My words.”

³Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was making something on the ¹wheel.

⁴But the vessel that he was making of clay was ruined in the hand of the potter, so he turned around and made it into another vessel, according to what was right in the eyes of the potter to make.

⁵Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

⁶“Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares Yahweh. “Behold, like the ^aclay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

⁷“At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to ^auproot, to tear down, or to make it perish;

^8abut if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will ^1brelent concerning the calamity I planned to do against it.

⁹“Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to ^abuild up or to plant it;

¹⁰but if it does ^aevil in My sight by not listening to My voice, then I will ^1brelent concerning the good which I promised, to do good to it.

¹¹“So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am ^aforming calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh ^bturn back, each of you from his evil way, and do good in your ways and your deeds.” ’

¹²“But ^athey will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the ^bstubbornness of his evil heart.’

¹³“Therefore thus says Yahweh,

‘^aAsk now among the nations,

Who ever heard the like of ¹this?

The ^bvirgin of Israel

Has done a most ^cappalling thing.

¹⁴‘Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country?

Or is the cold flowing water from a strange land ever uprooted?

¹⁵‘For ^aMy people have forgotten Me;

^bThey burn incense ¹to worthless gods,

And they ²have stumbled ³from their ways,

⁴From the ^cancient paths,

To walk in bypaths,

Not on a ^dhighway,

¹⁶To make their land an ^aobject of horror,

An object of perpetual ^bhissing;

Everyone who passes by it will be ¹horrified

And ^cshake his head.

¹⁷‘Like an ^aeast wind I will ^bscatter them

Before the enemy;

I will ¹show them ^cMy back and not My face

^dIn the day of their disaster.’”

¹⁸Then they said, “Come and let us ^adevise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the ^blaw is not going to perish from the priest, nor ^ccounsel to the wise man, nor the divine ^dword to the prophet! Come on and let us ^estrike at him with our tongue, and let us ^fgive no heed to any of his words.”

¹⁹Do give heed to me, O Yahweh,

And listen to the voice of those who contend against me!

^20aShould good be repaid with evil?

For they have ^bdug a pit for ¹me.

Remember how I ^cstood before You

To speak good on their behalf,

So as to turn away Your wrath from them.

²¹Therefore, ^agive their children over to famine

And deliver them up to the ¹power of the sword;

And let their wives become ^bchildless and ^cwidowed.

Let their men also be ²smitten to death,

Their ^dyoung men struck down by the sword in battle.

²²May an ^aoutcry be heard from their houses,

When You suddenly bring raiders upon them;

^bFor they have dug a pit to capture me

And ^chidden snares for my feet.

²³Yet You, O Yahweh, know

All their ¹deadly counsel against me;

^aDo not atone for their iniquity

Or blot out their sin from before You.

But may they be ^2boverthrown before You;

Deal with them in the ^ctime of Your anger!