Jeremiah 18
New King James Version
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.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord:
(J)“Ask now among the Gentiles,
Who has heard such things?
The virgin of Israel has done (K)a very horrible thing.
14 Will a man [f]leave the snow water of Lebanon,
Which comes from the rock of the field?
Will the cold flowing waters be forsaken for strange waters?
15 “Because My people have forgotten (L)Me,
They have burned incense to worthless idols.
And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways,
From the (M)ancient paths,
To walk in pathways and not on a highway,
16 To make their land (N)desolate and a perpetual (O)hissing;
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished
And shake his head.
17 (P)I will scatter them (Q)as with an east wind before the enemy;
(R)I will [g]show them the back and not the face
In the day of their calamity.”
Jeremiah Persecuted
18 Then they said, (S)“Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; (T)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.”
19 Give heed to me, O Lord,
And listen to the voice of those who contend with me!
20 (U)Shall evil be repaid for good?
For they have (V)dug a pit for my life.
Remember that I (W)stood before You
To speak good [h]for them,
To turn away Your wrath from them.
21 Therefore (X)deliver up their children to the famine,
And pour out their blood
By the force of the sword;
Let their wives become widows
And (Y)bereaved of their children.
Let their men be put to death,
Their young men be slain
By the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses,
When You bring a troop suddenly upon them;
For they have dug a pit to take me,
And hidden snares for my feet.
23 Yet, Lord, You know all their counsel
Which is against me, to slay me.
(Z)Provide no atonement for their iniquity,
Nor blot out their sin from Your sight;
But let them be overthrown before You.
Deal thus with them
In the time of Your (AA)anger.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 18:3 Potter’s wheel
- Jeremiah 18:4 was making
- Jeremiah 18:4 ruined
- Jeremiah 18:12 Lit. do
- Jeremiah 18:12 stubbornness or imagination
- Jeremiah 18:14 forsake
- Jeremiah 18:17 So with LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; MT look them in
- Jeremiah 18:20 concerning
Jeremiah 18
Complete Jewish Bible
18 This word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai: 2 “Get up, and go down to the potter’s house; there I will tell you more.” 3 So I went down to the house of the potter; and there he was, working at the wheels. 4 Whenever a pot he made came out imperfect, the potter took the clay and made another pot with it, in whatever shape suited him.
5 Then the word of Adonai came to me: 6 “House of Isra’el, can’t I deal with you as the potter deals with his clay? — says Adonai. Look! You, house of Isra’el, are the same in my hand as the clay in the potter’s hand. 7 At one time, I may speak about uprooting, breaking down and destroying a nation or kingdom; 8 but if that nation turns from their evil, which prompted me to speak against it, then I relent concerning the disaster I had planned to inflict on it. 9 Similarly, at another time, I may speak about building and planting a nation or kingdom; 10 but if it behaves wickedly from my perspective and doesn’t listen to what I say, then I change my mind and don’t do the good I said I would do that would have helped it.
11 “So now, tell the people of Y’hudah and those living in Yerushalayim that this is what Adonai says:
‘I am designing disaster for you,
working out my plan against you.
Turn, each of you, from his evil ways;
improve your conduct and actions.’
12 “But they will answer, ‘It’s hopeless!
We will stick to our own plans;
each of us will stubbornly follow
his own evil desires!’
13 “Therefore, Adonai says this:
‘Ask among the nations
who has heard anything like this.
The virgin Isra’el has done
a most horrible thing.
14 Does the snow of the L’vanon
disappear from the mountain crags?
Do the cold waters of foreign lands
ever run dry?
15 No, but my people have forgotten me
and offer incense to nothings.
This causes them to stumble
as they walk the ancient paths;
they leave the highway
to walk on side-trails.
16 Thus they make their land an object of horror
and ongoing ridicule.
Passers-by shake their heads,
appalled, every one.
17 Like a strong east wind, I will scatter them
before the enemy.
I will see their back, not their face,
on their day of disaster.’”
18 Then they said, “Let’s develop a plan for dealing with Yirmeyahu. Torah won’t be lost from the cohanim, or counsel from the wise, or words from the prophets. So come, let’s destroy him with slander; and meanwhile, we won’t pay attention to anything he says.”
19 Pay attention to me, Adonai!
Listen to what my opponents are saying!
20 Is good to be repaid with evil?
For they have dug a pit [to trap] me.
Remember how I stood before you
and spoke well of them,
in order to turn your anger
away from them?
21 Therefore, hand their sons over to famine,
hurl them into the power of the sword,
let their wives be made childless and widows,
let their husbands be slain by disease,
let their young men be slain by the sword in battle,
22 let screams be heard from their houses
when you bring raiders on them without warning.
For they have dug a pit to catch me
and have laid snares for my feet.
23 Nevertheless, Adonai, you know
all their plans against me to stop me.
Do not forgive their crime,
do not blot out their sin from your sight;
but let them be made to stumble before you;
deal with them when you are angry.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.