Jeremiah 18:12-18
Jeremiah 18:12-18 The Message (MSG)
“But they’ll just say, ‘Why should we? What’s the point? We’ll live just the way we’ve always lived, doom or no doom.’” * * * GOD’s Message: “Ask around. Survey the godless nations. Has anyone heard the likes of this? Virgin Israel has become a slut! Does snow disappear from the Lebanon peaks? Do alpine streams run dry? But my people have left me to worship the Big Lie. They’ve gotten off the track, the old, well-worn trail, And now bushwhack through underbrush in a tangle of roots and vines. Their land’s going to end up a mess— a fool’s memorial to be spit on. Travelers passing through will shake their heads in disbelief. I’ll scatter my people before their enemies, like autumn leaves in a high wind. On their day of doom, they’ll stare at my back as I walk away, catching not so much as a glimpse of my face.” * * * Some of the people said, “Come on, let’s cook up a plot against Jeremiah. We’ll still have the priests to teach us the law, wise counselors to give us advice, and prophets to tell us what God has to say. Come on, let’s discredit him so we don’t have to put up with him any longer.”
Jeremiah 18:12-18 King James Version (KJV)
And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; to make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity. Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
Jeremiah 18:12-18 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)
But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ “Therefore thus says the LORD, ‘Ask now among the nations, Who ever heard the like of this? The virgin of Israel Has done a most appalling thing. Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country? Or is the cold flowing water from a foreign land ever snatched away? For My people have forgotten Me, They burn incense to worthless gods And they have stumbled from their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in bypaths, Not on a highway, To make their land a desolation, An object of perpetual hissing; Everyone who passes by it will be astonished And shake his head. Like an east wind I will scatter them Before the enemy; I will show them My back and not My face In the day of their calamity.’ ” Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the sage, nor the divine word to the prophet! Come on and let us strike at him with our tongue, and let us give no heed to any of his words.”
Jeremiah 18:12-18 New Century Version (NCV)
But 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!’ ” So 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. The snow on the mountains of Lebanon never melts from the rocks. Its cool, flowing streams do not dry up. But my people have forgotten me. They burn incense to worthless idols and have stumbled in what they do and in the old ways of their ancestors. They walk along back roads and on poor highways. So 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. Like a strong east wind, I will scatter them before their enemies. At that awful time they will not see me coming to help them; they will see me leaving.” Then the people said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah. Surely the teaching of the law by the priest will not be lost. We will still have the advice from the wise teachers and the words of the prophets. So let’s ruin him by telling lies about him. We won’t pay attention to anything he says.”
Jeremiah 18:12-18 American Standard Version (ASV)
But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ask ye now among the nations, who hath heard such things; the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? or shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up? For my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false gods; and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths, in a way not cast up; to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and shake his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity. Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
Jeremiah 18:12-18 New International Version (NIV)
But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’ ” Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard anything like this? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel. Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever stop flowing? Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up. Their land will be an object of horror and of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads. Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them my back and not my face in the day of their disaster.” They said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.”
Jeremiah 18:12-18 New King James Version (NKJV)
And they said, “That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates of his evil heart.” Therefore thus says the LORD: “Ask now among the Gentiles, Who has heard such things? The virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing. Will a man leave the snow water of Lebanon, Which comes from the rock of the field? Will the cold flowing waters be forsaken for strange waters? “Because My people have forgotten Me, They have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in pathways and not on a highway, To make their land desolate and a perpetual hissing; Everyone who passes by it will be astonished And shake his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back and not the face In the day of their calamity.” Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
Jeremiah 18:12-18 Amplified Bible (AMP)
But they will say, ‘That is hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act in accordance with the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ ¶“Therefore thus says the LORD, ‘Ask now among the nations, Who has heard of such things? The virgin Israel Has done a very vile and horrible thing. ‘Will the snow of [Mount] Lebanon melt and vanish from its rocks [which tower above Israel]? Will the cold, rushing waters of foreign lands [that flow down from the distant land] be dried up? ‘Yet My people have forgotten Me; They burn incense to worthless gods, They have stumbled from their ways From the ancient roads, To walk in pathways, Not on a highway, Making their land a desolation and a horror, A thing to be hissed at perpetually; Everyone who passes by will be astounded And shake his head [in scorn]. ‘I will scatter them like an east wind Before the enemy; I will show them My back and not My face In the day of their disaster [says the LORD].’ ” Then [my enemies] said, “Come and let us work out schemes against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest [as Jeremiah predicts], nor the counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with our tongue [by making charges against him before the king], and let us ignore anything he says.”
Jeremiah 18:12-18 New Living Translation (NLT)
But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.” So 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! Does the snow ever disappear from the mountaintops of Lebanon? Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever run dry? But 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. Therefore, their land will become desolate, a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and will shake their heads in amazement. I 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.” Then the people said, “Come on, let’s plot a way to stop Jeremiah. We have plenty of priests and wise men and prophets. We don’t need him to teach the word and give us advice and prophecies. Let’s spread rumors about him and ignore what he says.”
Jeremiah 18:12-18 The Passion Translation (TPT)
“But they will answer: ‘It’s too late! We’ll live as we choose and be just as stubborn and evil as we want to be.’ ” YAHWEH Therefore YAHWEH says: “Ask the people of every nation and find out if they have ever heard of such a horrible sin as what you, virgin Israel, have done to betray me. Does the snow on Lebanon’s mountains ever melt away? Do the cold mountain streams ever run dry? But my people have forgotten me and burn incense to gods who are nothing, who make my people stumble in their ways. They no longer follow the ways of blessing they knew before but have followed paths that lead them nowhere. Their homeland is a wasteland, and everyone who passes by is horrified and trembles with fear. Like a strong wind from the east, I will blow them away before their enemies. Since they have turned their back on me, I will turn my back on them and refuse to help them in their day of trouble.” Then the people said: “Come on, let’s plan a scheme against Jeremiah! There are always priests and wise ones who can give us instruction. We will still have prophets to give us YAHWEH’s message. Come on, let’s attack his reputation and drum up phony charges against him. And let’s pay no attention to anything he says.”
Jeremiah 18:12-18 English Standard Version Revision 2016 (ESV)
“But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ “Therefore thus says the LORD: Ask among the nations, Who has heard the like of this? The virgin Israel has done a very horrible thing. Does the snow of Lebanon leave the crags of Sirion? Do the mountain waters run dry, the cold flowing streams? But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway, making their land a horror, a thing to be hissed at forever. Everyone who passes by it is horrified and shakes his head. Like the east wind I will scatter them before the enemy. I will show them my back, not my face, in the day of their calamity.” Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.”