Jeremiah 18
18
The Potter and the Clay
1The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2#Jer 19:1–2“Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” 3Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was making something on the wheel. 4Yet the vessel that he made of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
5Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 6#Isa 64:8; 45:9O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? says the Lord. As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. 7#Jer 1:10At one moment I may speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it. 8#Jer 26:13; Eze 18:21If that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to do to it. 9#Jer 1:10; 31:28Or at another moment I may speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build and to plant it. 10#1Sa 2:30; Eze 33:18If it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will relent of the good with which I said I would bless it.
11#2Ki 17:13; Isa 1:16–19Now therefore speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Repent now, everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your deeds good. 12#Jer 2:25; Isa 57:10But they say, “There is no hope! But we will walk after our own devices, and each of us will do according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.”
13#Jer 5:30; Isa 66:8Therefore thus says the Lord:
Ask now among the nations,
who has heard such things?
The virgin of Israel
has done a very horrible thing.
14Shall a man leave the snow of Lebanon,
which comes from the rock of the field?
Shall the cold flowing water that comes from another place
be forsaken?
15#Isa 57:14; Jer 6:16 Because My people have forgotten Me,
they have burned incense to vain gods
and they have stumbled in their ways
from the ancient paths,
to walk in bypaths,
not on a highway,
16#Ps 22:7; Jer 25:9 to make their land desolate,
and a perpetual hissing;
everyone who passes by shall be astonished
and shake his head.
17#Jer 2:27; 13:24 I will scatter them before the enemy
as with an east wind;
I will show them the back and not the face
in the day of their calamity.
Jeremiah Persecuted
18#Jer 11:19; Ps 52:2Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. For the law will not be lost from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
19Give heed to me, O Lord,
and listen to the voice of those who contend with me.
20#Ps 35:7; 57:6 Shall evil be recompensed for good?
For they have dug a pit for my soul.
Remember that I stood before You
to speak good for them,
and to turn away Your wrath from them.
21#Ps 109:9–20; Jer 9:21 Therefore, deliver up their children to the famine
and pour out their blood by the power of the sword;
and let their wives be bereaved of their children and become widows
and let their men be put to death;
let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.
22#Ps 140:5; Jer 6:26 Let a cry be heard from their houses,
when You bring a troop suddenly upon them;
for they have dug a pit to take me
and hidden snares for my feet.
23#Isa 2:9 Yet, Lord, You know
all their counsel against me to slay me.
Do not forgive their iniquity
nor blot out their sin from Your sight;
but let them be overthrown before You;
deal thus with them in the time of Your anger.
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Military Bible Association
Jeremiah 18
18
The Potter and the Clay
1This is the word the Lord spoke to Jeremiah: 2“Go down to the potter’s house. I will give you my message there.” 3So I went down to the potter’s house. I saw him working at the potter’s wheel. 4He was making a pot from clay. But something went wrong with it. So the potter used that clay to make another pot. He used his hands to shape the pot the way that he wanted it to be.
5Then the Lord spoke his word to me: 6“Family of Israel, can’t I do the same thing with you?” says the Lord. “You are like the clay in the potter’s hands. 7There may come a time when I will speak about a nation or a kingdom. I might say I will pull that nation up by its roots. Or I might say I will pull that nation down and destroy it. 8But if the people of that nation are sorry for the evil they have done, I would change my mind. I would not carry out my plans to bring disaster to them. 9There may come another time when I will speak about a nation. I might say that I will build up and plant that nation. 10But if I see it doing evil by not obeying me, I would change my mind. I would not carry out my plans to do good for them.
11“So, say this to the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am preparing disaster for you right now. I am making plans against you. So stop doing the evil you are doing. Change your ways and do what is right.’ 12But the people of Judah will answer, ‘It won’t do any good to try! We will continue to do what we want. Each of us will do what his stubborn, evil heart wants!’”
13So this is what the Lord says:
“Ask the people in other nations this question:
‘Have you ever heard anything like this?’
The people of Israel have done a horrible thing.
14The snow on the mountains of Lebanon
never melts from the rocks.
Its cool, flowing streams
do not dry up.
15But my people have forgotten me.
They make offerings to worthless idols.
This makes them stumble in what they do.
They stumble about in the old ways of their ancestors.
They walk along back roads
and on poor highways.
16So Judah’s country will become an empty desert.
People will not stop making fun of it.
They will shake their heads as they pass by.
They will be shocked at how the country was destroyed.
17I will scatter them before their enemies
as a strong east wind blows things away.
At that awful time they will not see me coming to help them.
They will see me leaving.”
Jeremiah’s Fourth Complaint
18Then the people said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah. Surely the teaching of the law by the priest will not be lost. And the advice from the wise men will still be with us. We will still have the words of the prophets. So let’s ruin him by telling lies about him! We won’t pay attention to anything he says.”
19Lord, listen to me.
Listen to what my accusers are saying!
20Good should not be paid back with evil.
But they have dug a pit in order to kill me.
Lord, remember that I stood before you
and asked you to do good things for these people.
I asked you to turn your anger away from them.
21So now, let their children starve.
Let their enemies defeat them with swords.
Let their wives lose their children and husbands.
Let the men from Judah be put to death.
Let the young men be killed in battle.
22Let them cry out in their houses.
Bring an enemy against them suddenly.
Let all this happen because my enemies have dug a pit to trap me.
And they have hidden traps for me to step in.
23Lord, you know
about their plans to kill me.
Don’t forgive their crimes.
Don’t erase their sins.
Make them fall from their places.
Punish them while you are angry.
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