The Potter and the Clay

18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ² “Arise and ^(A)go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. ⁴ But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁶ “Am I not able, house of Israel, to deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the ^(B)clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel. ⁷ At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to ^(C)uproot it, to tear it down, or to destroy it; ^8 (D)if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will ^(E)relent of the disaster that I planned to bring on it. ⁹ Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to ^(F)build up or to plant it; ¹⁰ if it does ^(G)evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will ^(H)relent of the good with which I said ^[a]that I would bless it. ¹¹ So now, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am ^(I)forming a disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Now ^(J)turn back, each of you from his evil way, and ^[b]correct your ways and your deeds!”’ ¹² But ^(K)they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will ^[c]persist in the ^(L)stubbornness of his evil heart.’

¹⁸ Then they said, “Come and let’s ^(AA)devise plans against Jeremiah. Certainly the ^(AB)Law is not going to be lost by the priest, nor ^(AC)advice by the wise, nor the divine ^(AD)word by the prophet! Come, and let’s ^(AE)strike at him with our tongue, and let’s ^(AF)pay no attention to any of his words.”

The Broken Jar

19 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a ^(AT)potter’s earthenware ^(AU)jar, and take some of the ^(AV)elders of the people and some of the ^[n](AW)senior priests. ² Then go out to the ^(AX)Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the ^[o]Potsherd Gate, and ^(AY)proclaim there the words that I tell you, ³ and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you ^(AZ)kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold I am going to bring a ^(BA)disaster upon this place, at which the ^(BB)ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle. ⁴ Since they have ^(BC)abandoned Me and have ^(BD)made this place foreign, and have burned ^[p]sacrifices in it to ^(BE)other gods that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and since they have filled this place with the ^(BF)blood of the innocent ⁵ and have built the ^(BG)high places of Baal to burn their ^(BH)sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I did not command nor speak of, nor did it ever enter My ^[q]mind; ⁶ therefore, behold, ^(BI)days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this place will no longer be called ^(BJ)Topheth or ^(BK)the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the Valley of Slaughter. ⁷ And I will ^(BL)frustrate the planning of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and ^(BM)I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will make their ^(BN)carcasses food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth. ⁸ I will also turn this city into an object of ^(BO)horror and ^[r]hissing; ^(BP)everyone who passes by it will be appalled and ^[s]hiss because of all its ^[t]disasters. ⁹ And I will make them ^(BQ)eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and in the hardship with which their enemies and those who seek their life will torment them.”’

¹⁰ “Then you are to break the ^(BR)jar in the sight of the men who accompany you, ¹¹ and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “To the same extent I will ^(BS)break this people and this city, just as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will ^(BT)bury their dead in Topheth, ^[u]because there is no other place for burial. ¹² This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants,” declares the Lord, “so as to make this city like Topheth. ¹³ The ^(BU)houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be ^(BV)defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the ^(BW)houses on whose rooftops they burned ^[v]sacrifices to ^(BX)all the heavenly ^[w]lights and ^(BY)poured out drink offerings to other gods.”’”

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the ^(BZ)courtyard of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, ¹⁵ “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to bring on this city and all its towns the entire disaster that I have declared against it, because they have ^(CA)stiffened their necks so ^(CB)as not to listen to My words.’”

Difficult Times Will Come

3 But realize this, that ^(A)in the last days difficult times will come. ² For people will be ^(B)lovers of self, ^(C)lovers of money, ^(D)boastful, ^(E)arrogant, ^(F)slanderers, ^(G)disobedient to parents, ^(H)ungrateful, ^(I)unholy, ^3 (J)unloving, irreconcilable, ^(K)malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, ^[a](L)haters of good, ^4 (M)treacherous, ^(N)reckless, ^(O)conceited, ^(P)lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of ^[b](Q)godliness although they have ^(R)denied its power; ^(S)avoid such people as these. ⁶ For among them are those who ^[c](T)slip into households and captivate ^[d](U)weak women weighed down with sins, led on by ^(V)various impulses, ⁷ always learning and never able to ^(W)come to the ^[e]knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as ^(X)Jannes and Jambres ^(Y)opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, ^(Z)men of depraved mind, ^[f]worthless in regard to the faith. ⁹ But they will not make further progress; for their ^(AA)foolishness will be obvious to all, just ^(AB)as was that also of ^[g]Jannes and Jambres.

¹⁰ Now you ^(AC)followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, ^(AD)love, ^[h]perseverance, ^11 (AE)persecutions, and ^(AF)sufferings, such as happened to me at ^(AG)Antioch, at ^(AH)Iconium, and at ^(AI)Lystra; what ^(AJ)persecutions I endured, and out of them all ^(AK)the Lord rescued me! ¹² Indeed, all who want to live in a godly way in Christ Jesus ^(AL)will be persecuted. ¹³ But evil people and impostors ^(AM)will proceed from bad to worse, ^(AN)deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ You, however, ^(AO)continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that ^(AP)from childhood you have known ^(AQ)the sacred writings which are able to ^(AR)give you the wisdom that leads to ^(AS)salvation through faith which is in ^(AT)Christ Jesus. ^16 (AU)All Scripture is ^[i]inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for ^[j]rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that ^(AV)the man or woman of God may be ^[k]fully capable, ^(AW)equipped for every good work.