Jeremiah 18
18
The Potter and the Clay
1The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Come, go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.
5Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. 9And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. 11Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
Israel's Stubborn Idolatry
12But they say, “It is no use! We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of our evil will.”
13Therefore thus says the Lord:
Ask among the nations:
Who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel has done
a most horrible thing.
14Does the snow of Lebanon leave
the crags of Sirion?#18.14 Cn: Heb of the field
Do the mountain#18.14 Cn: Heb foreign waters run dry,#18.14 Cn: Heb Are . . . plucked up?
the cold flowing streams?
15But my people have forgotten me,
they burn offerings to a delusion;
they have stumbled#18.15 Gk Syr Vg: Heb they made them stumble in their ways,
in the ancient roads,
and have gone into bypaths,
not the highway,
16making their land a horror,
a thing to be hissed at forever.
All who pass by it are horrified
and shake their heads.
17Like the wind from the east,
I will scatter them before the enemy.
I will show them my back, not my face,
in the day of their calamity.
A Plot against Jeremiah
18Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah—for instruction shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us bring charges against him,#18.18 Heb strike him with the tongue and let us not heed any of his words.”
19Give heed to me, O Lord,
and listen to what my adversaries say!
20Is evil a recompense for good?
Yet they have dug a pit for my life.
Remember how I stood before you
to speak good for them,
to turn away your wrath from them.
21Therefore give their children over to famine;
hurl them out to the power of the sword,
let their wives become childless and widowed.
May their men meet death by pestilence,
their youths be slain by the sword in battle.
22May a cry be heard from their houses,
when you bring the marauder suddenly upon them!
For they have dug a pit to catch me,
and laid snares for my feet.
23Yet you, O Lord, know
all their plotting to kill me.
Do not forgive their iniquity,
do not blot out their sin from your sight.
Let them be tripped up before you;
deal with them while you are angry.
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Jeremiah 18: NRSV
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 18
18
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:
2 "Rise up and descend into the house of the potter, and there you will hear my words."
3 And I descended into the house of the potter, and behold, he was making a work on the wheel.
4 And the vessel, which he was making with his hands out of clay, broke. And turning away, he made another vessel, for it had been pleasing in his eyes to make it.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
6 "Am I not able to do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done, says the Lord? Behold, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
7 Suddenly, I will speak against a nation and against a kingdom, so that I may uproot, and destroy, and scatter it.
8 If that nation, against which I have spoken, will repent from their evil, I too will repent from the evil that I have decided I would do to them.
9 And soon, I will speak about a nation and about a kingdom, so that I may build and plant it.
10 If it does evil in my sight, so as not to listen to my voice, I will repent of the good that I have said I would do to it.
11 Now, therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am forming an evil against you, and I am considering a plan against you. Let each one of you return from his evil way, and direct your ways and your intentions well."
12 And they said: "We have lost hope. And so we will follow our own thoughts, and each of us will act according to the depravity of his own evil heart."
13 For this reason, thus says the Lord: "Inquire among the Gentiles. Who has heard of such horrible things as the virgin of Israel has done to excess?
14 Do the snows of Lebanon fail to fall on the rocks of the field? Or are the cold waters, which burst forth and flow down, able to be rooted out?
15 Yet my people have forgotten me, offering useless libations, and stumbling in their ways, in the paths of the world, so that they walk by these on an unmarked route.
16 And so their land has been given over to desolation and to perpetual hissing. Each one who passes by will be astonished and will shake his head.
17 Like a burning wind, I will disperse them in the sight the enemy. I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their perdition."
18 And they said: "Come, and let us devise a plan against Jeremiah. For the law will not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor a sermon from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us pay no attention to any of his words."
19 Attend to me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my adversaries.
20 Should evil be rendered for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul! Remember that I have stood in your sight, so as to speak on their behalf for good, and to avert your indignation from them.
21 Because of this, give their sons over to famine, and bring them to the hand of the sword. Let their wives be widows without children. And let their husbands be slain by death. Let their youths be stabbed with the sword in battle.
22 Let an outcry be heard from their houses. For you will lead the robber upon them suddenly. For they have dug a pit, so that they may seize me, and they have hidden snares for my feet.
23 But you, O Lord, know all their plans against me unto death. May you not forgive their iniquity, and do not allow their sin be taken away from your face. Let them be thrown down in your sight, in the time of your fury, so that you may destroy them.
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