The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, ²“Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” ³So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. ⁴But 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.

⁵Then the Lord gave me this message: ⁶“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. ⁷If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, ⁸but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. ⁹And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, ¹⁰but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.

¹¹“Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’ ”

¹²But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.”

¹³So this is what the Lord says:

“Has anyone ever heard of such a thing,

even among the pagan nations?

My virgin daughter Israel

has done something terrible!

¹⁴Does the snow ever disappear from the mountaintops of Lebanon?

Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever run dry?

¹⁵But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me;

they burn incense to worthless idols.

They have stumbled off the ancient highways

and walk in muddy paths.

¹⁶Therefore, their land will become desolate,

a monument to their stupidity.

All who pass by will be astonished

and will shake their heads in amazement.

¹⁷I will scatter my people before their enemies

as the east wind scatters dust.

And in all their trouble I will turn my back on them

and refuse to notice their distress.”

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