Jeremiah 18
English Standard Version
The Potter and the Clay
18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to (A)the potter's house, and there I will let you hear[a] my words.” 3 So I went down to (B)the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was (C)spoiled in the potter's hand, and (D)he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, (E)can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. (F)Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will (G)pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, (H)turns from its evil, (I)I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will (J)build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. (K)Return, every one from his evil way, and (L)amend your ways and your deeds.’
12 “But they say, (M)‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to (N)the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
13 “Therefore thus says the Lord:
(O)Ask among the nations,
Who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel
has done (P)a very horrible thing.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon leave
the crags of Sirion?[b]
Do the mountain waters run dry,[c]
the cold flowing streams?
15 (Q)But my people have forgotten me;
they make offerings to (R)false gods;
they made them stumble in their ways,
(S)in the ancient roads,
and to walk into side roads,
(T)not the highway,
16 making their land (U)a horror,
a thing (V)to be hissed at forever.
(W)Everyone who passes by it is horrified
(X)and shakes his head.
17 (Y)Like the east wind (Z)I will scatter them
before the enemy.
(AA)I will show them my back, not my face,
in the day of their calamity.”
18 Then they said, (AB)“Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, (AC)for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. (AD)Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.”
19 Hear me, O Lord,
and (AE)listen to the voice of my adversaries.
20 (AF)Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet (AG)they have dug a pit for my life.
(AH)Remember how I stood before you
to speak good for them,
to turn away your wrath from them.
21 Therefore (AI)deliver up their children to famine;
give them over to the power of the sword;
let their wives become childless (AJ)and widowed.
May their men meet death by pestilence,
their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.
22 (AK)May a cry be heard from their houses,
when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them!
For (AL)they have dug a pit to take me
(AM)and laid snares for my feet.
23 Yet (AN)you, O Lord, know
all their plotting to kill me.
(AO)Forgive not their iniquity,
nor blot out their sin from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 18:2 Or will cause you to hear
- Jeremiah 18:14 Hebrew of the field
- Jeremiah 18:14 Hebrew Are foreign waters plucked up
Jeremiah 35
English Standard Version
The Obedience of the Rechabites
35 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of (A)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the (B)Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of (C)the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4 I brought them to the house of the Lord into (D)the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, (E)the man of God, which was near (F)the chamber of the officials, above (G)the chamber of (H)Maaseiah the son of Shallum, (I)keeper of the threshold. 5 Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for (J)Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7 You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, (K)that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10 but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But (L)when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of (M)the army of the Chaldeans and (N)the army of the Syrians.’ (O)So we are living in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, (P)Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. 14 The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. I have spoken to you (Q)persistently, but you have not listened to me. 15 I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them (R)persistently, saying, (S)‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and (T)do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ (U)But you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, (V)because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, (W)I have called to them and they have not answered.”
18 But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man (X)to stand before me.”
Jeremiah 49:1-33
English Standard Version
Judgment on Ammon
49 (A)Concerning the Ammonites.
Thus says the Lord:
“Has Israel no sons?
Has he no heir?
Why then has (B)Milcom[a] (C)dispossessed Gad,
and his people settled in its cities?
2 Therefore, behold, the days are coming,
declares the Lord,
when I will cause (D)the battle cry to be heard
against (E)Rabbah of the Ammonites;
it shall become a desolate (F)mound,
and its villages shall be burned with fire;
then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,
says the Lord.
3 “Wail, O (G)Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!
Cry out, O daughters of (H)Rabbah!
(I)Put on sackcloth,
lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!
For (J)Milcom shall go into exile,
(K)with his priests and his officials.
4 Why do you boast of your valleys,[b]
(L)O faithless daughter,
(M)who trusted in her treasures, saying,
‘Who will come against me?’
5 Behold, (N)I will bring terror upon you,
declares the Lord God of hosts,
from all who are around you,
and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,
with none to gather the fugitives.
6 “But (O)afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the Lord.”
Judgment on Edom
7 Concerning (P)Edom.
Thus says the Lord of hosts:
(Q)“Is wisdom no more in (R)Teman?
(S)Has counsel perished from the prudent?
(T)Has their wisdom vanished?
8 (U)Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of (V)Dedan!
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
(W)the time when I punish him.
9 (X)If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave (Y)gleanings?
(Z)If thieves came by night,
would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
10 (AA)But I have stripped Esau bare;
(AB)I have uncovered his hiding places,
and he is not able to conceal himself.
His children are destroyed, and his brothers,
and his neighbors; and (AC)he is no more.
11 (AD)Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;
(AE)and let your widows trust in me.”
12 For thus says the Lord: (AF)“If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, (AG)will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. 13 (AH)For I have sworn by myself, declares the Lord, that (AI)Bozrah shall become (AJ)a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.”
14 (AK)I have heard a message from the Lord,
and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
(AL)“Gather yourselves together and come against her,
and rise up for battle!
15 For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
despised among mankind.
16 The horror you inspire has deceived you,
and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,[c]
who hold the height of the hill.
Though you (AM)make your nest as high as the eagle's,
I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord.
17 (AN)“Edom shall become a horror. (AO)Everyone who passes by it will be horrified (AP)and will hiss because of all its disasters. 18 (AQ)As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their (AR)neighboring cities were overthrown, says the Lord, (AS)no man shall dwell there, (AT)no man shall sojourn in her. 19 (AU)Behold, (AV)like a lion coming up from (AW)the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him[d] run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. (AX)For who is like me? (AY)Who will summon me? (AZ)What shepherd can stand before me? 20 Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against (BA)Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of (BB)Teman: (BC)Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 21 At the sound of their fall (BD)the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. 22 Behold, (BE)one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against (BF)Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart (BG)of a woman in her birth pains.”
Judgment on Damascus
23 Concerning (BH)Damascus:
(BI)“Hamath and (BJ)Arpad are confounded,
for they have heard bad news;
they melt in fear,
(BK)they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
24 (BL)Damascus has become feeble, (BM)she turned to flee,
and panic seized her;
anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
as (BN)of a woman in labor.
25 How is (BO)the famous city not forsaken,
the city of my joy?
26 (BP)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares,
and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,
declares the Lord of hosts.
27 And (BQ)I will kindle a fire in the wall of (BR)Damascus,
and it shall devour the strongholds of (BS)Ben-hadad.”
Judgment on Kedar and Hazor
28 Concerning (BT)Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down.
Thus says the Lord:
(BU)“Rise up, advance against (BV)Kedar!
Destroy (BW)the people of the east!
29 (BX)Their tents and their flocks shall be taken,
their (BY)curtains and all their goods;
their camels shall be led away from them,
and men shall cry to them: (BZ)‘Terror on every side!’
30 (CA)Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of Hazor!
declares the Lord.
For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
has made a plan against you
and formed a purpose against you.
31 (CB)“Rise up, advance against a nation (CC)at ease,
(CD)that dwells securely,
declares the Lord,
(CE)that has no gates or bars,
that dwells alone.
32 (CF)Their camels shall become plunder,
their herds of livestock a spoil.
(CG)I will scatter to every wind
(CH)those who cut the corners of their hair,
and I will bring their calamity
from every side of them,
declares the Lord.
33 Hazor shall become (CI)a haunt of jackals,
an everlasting waste;
(CJ)no man shall dwell there;
(CK)no man shall sojourn in her.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 49:1 Or their king; also verse 3
- Jeremiah 49:4 Hebrew boast of your valleys, your valley flows
- Jeremiah 49:16 Or of Sela
- Jeremiah 49:19 Septuagint, Syriac them
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Bible Gateway Recommends
