Jeremiah 18
18
The Potter and the Clay
1The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,#Literally “to say” 2“Stand up and go down to the house of the potter, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3So I went down to the house of the potter and look, there he was doing work at the potter’s wheels. 4And the vessel that he was making with the clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter, so he made again#Literally “he turned back and he made it” another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make.
5And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,#Literally “to say” 6“Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh. “Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7One moment I speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, to uproot, and to tear down, and to destroy it.#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation 8But if that nation turns back from its evil that I have threatened against it, then I will relent concerning the disaster that I planned to do to it. 9And the next moment I speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant it.#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation 10But if it does evil in my sight, to not listen to my voice, then I will relent concerning the good that I said I would do to it.
11“So now then, say, please, to the people#Literally “man” of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,#Literally “to say” ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am preparing evil against you, and I am planning a plan against you. Please turn back, each one from his evil way, and walk rightly in your ways and your deeds.” ’ 12But they will say, ‘It is hopeless, for we will go after our own plans, and each one of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
13“Therefore thus says Yahweh,
‘Please ask among the nations, “Who has heard the like of this?”#Literally “like these”
The virgin of Israel has done something very horrible.
14Does the snow of Lebanon leave from the crags#Hebrew “crag” of Sirion?
Or are the cold waters flowing from distant mountains dried up?
15But my people have forgotten me.
They make smoke offerings to the idols,#Hebrew “idol”
and they caused them to stumble in their ways, the ancient ways,
to go into bypaths,#Literally “paths of way” not one that is built up.
16To make their land a horror,
an object of whistling for eternity.
All who pass by it will be appalled,
and he will shake his head.
17Like the wind from the east
I will scatter them before#Literally “to the face of” the enemy.
I will show them my back and not my face
in the day of their disaster.’ ”
Jeremiah’s Imprecatory Prayer
18Then they said, “Come and let us plan plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will not be lost from the priest, nor advice from the wise man, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us bring charges against him,#Literally “let us strike him with the tongue” and let us not listen attentively to any of his words.”
19Listen attentively to me, O Yahweh,
and listen to the voice of my opponents.
20Should good be repaid in place of evil?
Yet they have dug a pit for me.
Remember my standing before you#Literally “to the face of you” to speak good for them,
to avert your wrath from them.
21Therefore#Literally “To thus” give their children to the famine,
and hand them over to the power#Literally “hand” of the sword,
and let their wives be bereaved and widows,
and let their men be killed by death,
their young men struck dead
by the sword in the battle.
22Let a cry for help be heard from their houses
when you suddenly bring upon them the raiding band,
for they have dug a pit to catch me,
and they have fixed secretly a trap for my feet.
23But you, O Yahweh, you know
all their plans of assassination against me.#Literally “all of their plan against me to the death”
You must not make atonement for their iniquity,
and you must not cause their sin to be blotted out from before you.#Literally “to the face of you”
But let them be overthrown before you.#Literally “to the face of you”
Deal with them in the time of your anger.
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Jeremiah 18
18
The Potter and the Clay
1This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Jeremiah, go down to the potter’s house. I will give you my message there.”
3So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working with clay at the wheel. 4He was making a pot from clay. But there was something wrong with the pot. So the potter used that clay to make another pot. With his hands he shaped the pot the way he wanted it to be.
5Then this message from the Lord came to me: 6“Family of Israel, you know that I can do the same thing with you. You are like the clay in the potter’s hands, and I am the potter.” This message is from the Lord. 7“There may come a time when I will speak about a nation or a kingdom that I will pull up by its roots or tear down and destroy it. 8But if the people of that nation change their hearts and lives and stop doing evil things, I will change my mind and not bring on them the disaster I planned. 9There may come another time when I speak about a nation that I will build up or plant. 10But if I see that nation doing evil things and not obeying me, I will think again about the good I had planned to do for them.
11“So, Jeremiah, say to the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am the potter preparing troubles for you and making plans against you. So stop doing the evil things you are doing. Each person must change and start doing good.’ 12But the people of Judah will answer, ‘We don’t care what you say. We will continue to do what we want. We will do the evil our stubborn hearts want.’”
13Listen to what the Lord says:
“Ask the other nations this question:
‘Have you ever heard of anything so bad?’
Israel, who is as dear to me as a young daughter,
has done this terrible thing!
14It is as strange as not finding snow on Lebanon’s mountains
or seeing the cool streams that come from there stop flowing.
That just does not happen!
15But my people have forgotten me.
They burn offerings to worthless idols.
They have left the right way that their ancestors followed,
and they stumble on the path they have chosen.
Instead of staying on the good road I showed them,
they prefer to walk on bumpy paths.
16So their land will become an empty desert,
a place for people from now on to make fun of.
All who pass by there will be shocked by what has happened.
They will just shake their heads at what they see.
17Like a strong east wind, I will scatter my people.
I will use their enemies to scatter them like dust.
When disaster comes upon them,
they will see me leaving, not coming to help.”
The People Plan Evil and Jeremiah Prays
18Then the enemies of Jeremiah said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah. We will always have a priest to tell us what the law says. We will still have wise men to advise us and prophets to tell us a message from God. So who needs Jeremiah? Let’s tell lies to ruin him and stop listening to what he says.”
19Lord, listen to me!
Listen to what my enemies are saying.
20I have done only good to them.
It is not right for them to pay me back with evil.
But they are preparing a death trap for me!
Remember that I prayed to you for them.
I asked only good for them.
I tried to keep you from punishing them in anger.
21So now make their children starve to death!
Let their enemies kill them with swords.
Let their wives lose their children and husbands.
Let their men die from disease,
and let their young men be killed in battle.
22Let them cry out in their houses,
when you suddenly bring an enemy against them.
Let it happen because they prepared a death trap for me.
They hid traps for me to step in.
23Lord, you know about their plans to kill me.
So don’t forgive their crimes or erase their sins.
Make them fall down in defeat.
Punish them in your anger!
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