Jeremiah 18

Chapter 18

The Potter and the Clay

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying,

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

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

⁴But 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.

⁵Then 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;

^8aif 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;

¹⁰if 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,

From the ^cancient paths,

To walk in bypaths,

Not on a ^dhighway,

¹⁶To make their land a ^adesolation,

An object of perpetual ^bhissing;

Everyone who passes by it will be astonished

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 calamity.’ ”

¹⁸Then they said, “Come and let us ^adevise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the ^blaw is not going to be lost to the priest, nor ^ccounsel to the sage, 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 Lord,

And listen to ¹what my opponents are saying!

^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 smitten 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 Lord, know

All their ¹deadly designs against me;

^aDo not ²forgive their iniquity

Or blot out their sin from Your sight.

But may they be ^3boverthrown before You;

Deal with them in the ^ctime of Your anger!