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

4 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.

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

6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “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 pull down, or to destroy it;

8 aif that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will 1brelent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.

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

10 if it does aevil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will 1bthink better of the good with which I had promised to 2bless it.

11 “So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am afashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh bturn back, each of you from his evil way, and 1reform 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 the Lord,

‘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 foreign land ever snatched away?

15 ‘For aMy people have forgotten Me,

bThey burn incense 1to worthless gods

And they 2have stumbled 3from their ways,

3From the cancient paths,

To walk in bypaths,

Not on a dhighway,

16 To make their land a adesolation,

An object of perpetual bhissing;

Everyone who passes by it will be astonished

And cshake his head.