Parable of the Potter

18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Go down at once to the potter’s house;^(A) there I will reveal My words to you.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.^{[a] 4} But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.^(B)

⁵ The word of the Lord came to me: ⁶ “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel.^{(C) 7} At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it.^{(D) 8} However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.^{(E) 9} At another time I announce that I will build and plant a nation or a kingdom.^{(F) 10} However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it.^(G)