Jeremiah 18:1-11

Contemporary English Version

Jeremiah Goes to the Pottery Shop

18 The Lord told me, ² “Jeremiah, go to the pottery shop, and when you get there, I will tell you what to say to the people.”

³ I went there and saw the potter making clay pots on his pottery wheel. ⁴ And whenever the clay would not take the shape he wanted, he would change his mind and form it into some other shape.

⁵ Then the Lord told me to say:

⁶ People of Israel, I, the Lord, have power over you, just as a potter has power over clay. ⁷ If I threaten to uproot and shatter an evil nation, ⁸ and that nation turns from its evil, I will change my mind.

⁹ If I promise to make a nation strong, ¹⁰ but its people start disobeying me and doing evil, then I will change my mind and not help them at all.

¹¹ So listen to me, people of Judah and Jerusalem! I have decided to strike you with disaster, and I won't change my mind unless you stop sinning and start living right.