Jeremiah 18
18
1This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2Go down right away to the potter's house. I will give you my message there.
3I went down to the potter's house and saw him working at his potter's wheel. 4But the pot that he was making from the clay went wrong. So he made it into something different as he thought best.
5The Lord's message came to me, saying, 6People of Israel, declares the Lord, can't I deal with you just like this potter does with his clay? I hold you in my hand just like clay in the potter's hand, people of Israel.
7At one time it could happen that I announce that a nation or a kingdom is going to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed. 8However, if that nation I warned gives up its evil ways, then I will change my mind regarding the disaster I was about to bring.
9At another time I could announce that I'm going to build up and give power to a nation or a kingdom. 10But if it does evil in my sight and refuses to listen to my voice, then I will change my mind regarding the good I had planned for it.
11So tell the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says: Watch out! I am preparing disaster for you, and working out a plan against you. All of you, give up your evil ways. Live right and act right!
12But they'll say, “We just can't! We'll do whatever we want. Each of us will stubbornly follow our own evil thinking.”
13Consequently this is what the Lord says: Ask around the nations—has anybody ever heard anything like this? Virgin Israel has acted really badly.
14Does the snow of Lebanon ever disappear from its rocky mountain-tops? Do its cool waters that flow from such distant sources ever dry up?
15But my people have rejected me! They burn incense to useless idols which trip them up, making them leave the old roads in order to walk down unmade paths instead of the highway. 16They have turned their country into a horrific wasteland, a place that will always be treated with contempt.#18:16. “Treated with contempt”: literally, “hissed at.” People passing by will be shocked, shaking their heads in disbelief.
17Like a strong wind from the east I will scatter them before the enemy. I will turn my back on them and not look at them when their time of trouble comes.
18Some people decided, “We need a plan to deal with Jeremiah. There'll still be priests to explain the law, there'll still be wise people to give advice, and there'll still be prophets to give prophecies. Let's organize a smear campaign#18:18. “Organize a smear campaign”: literally, “strike him with the tongue.” against him so we don't have to listen to a word he says.”
19Lord, please pay attention to what's happening to me! Listen to what my accusers are saying! 20Should good be paid back with evil? Yet they have dug a pit to trap me! Remember how I stood before you to plead on their behalf, to stop you being angry with them?
21But now may their children starve; may they be killed by the sword. May their wives lose their children and their husbands; may their husbands die from disease; may their young men be killed in battle. 22May cries of agony be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring invaders to attack them, because they dug a pit to capture me and hid traps to catch me as I walk along.
23But Lord, you know about all their plots to try and kill me. Don't forgive their wickedness; don't wipe away their sin. Bring them down! Deal with them when you're angry!
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 18: FBV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Jeremiah 18
18
The Potter’s House
1The word came to Jeremiah from Adonai, saying:
2“Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.”
3So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was making a work on the wheels.
4Whenever the pot that he was making from the clay became flawed in the hand of the potter, he remade it into another pot, as it pleased the potter to make.
5Then the word of Adonai came to me, saying:
6“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares Adonai. “Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
7At one moment I may speak about a nation or about a kingdom, to uproot, to pull down or to destroy it.
8But if that nation turns from their evil, because of what I have spoken against it, I will relent concerning the calamity that I planned to do to it.
9Or at another time I may speak about a nation or about a kingdom, to build up or to plant it.
10But if it does evil in My sight, not listening to My voice, then I will relent of the good that I had said I would do to it.”
11So now, speak to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, thus says Adonai: “I am about to bring calamity against you, and devise disaster against you. Turn back now—everyone from his evil way—and amend your ways and your doings.
12But they say: ‘It’s hopeless! So we will walk after our own plans, and each of us will act in the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
13Therefore thus says Adonai: “Ask now among the nations, whoever has heard such things? The virgin of Israel has done a most terrible thing.
14Does the snow of Lebanon abandon the rock of the field? Or is the cold water flowing from afar pulled back?
15Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to a delusion and stumble in their ways— off the ancient paths— to walk on side-tracks, rather than a built-up highway.
16Their land will become a horror, a perpetual hissing— every one passing by will be stunned and shake his head.
17Like an east wind, I will scatter them before the enemy. I will see their back, not their face, in the day of their calamity.”
Plots Against Jeremiah
18Then they said: “Come, let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely Torah from the kohen will not be lost, nor will counsel from the wise, nor will the word from the prophet. Come, let’s strike at him with the tongue, and pay no attention to any of his words.”
19Be attentive to me, Adonai! Listen to the voice of my opponents.
20Will good be repaid for evil? For they dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them.
21Therefore give their children to famine and pour out the power of the sword. Let their wives be bereaved of children, and widows, and let their men be slain to death, and their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
22Let a cry be heard from their houses when suddenly You bring a troop on them. For they dug a pit to capture me, and hid snares for my feet.
23Yet You know their whole plot, Adonai, against me to slay me. Do not forgive their iniquity or blot out their sin before You. But make them stumble before You. Act against them in the time of Your anger.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society