The Potter and the Clay

18 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: ² “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” ³ Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the ^[a]wheel. ⁴ And the vessel that he ^[b]made of clay was ^[c]marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ⁶ “O house of Israel, ^(A)can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, ^(B)as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! ⁷ The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to ^(C)pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, ^8 (D)if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, ^(E)I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. ⁹ And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, ¹⁰ if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.

¹¹ “Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. ^(F)Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings ^(G)good.” ’ ”

God’s Warning Rejected

¹² And they said, ^(H)“That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one ^[d]obey the ^(I)dictates^[e] of his evil heart.”

Jonah Preaches at Nineveh

3 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” ³ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, ^[a]a three-day journey in extent. ⁴ And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then ^(A)he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

The People of Nineveh Believe

⁵ So the ^(B)people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. ⁶ Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth ^(C)and sat in ashes. ^7 (D)And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his ^[b]nobles, saying,

^10 (H)Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

Hezekiah’s Life Extended^(A)

38 In ^(B)those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ^(C)‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ”

² Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, ³ and said, ^(D)“Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a ^[a]loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your ^(E)sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴ And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, ⁵ “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.