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.

The Sign of Two Baskets of Figs

24 The ^(A)Lord showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar ^(B)king of Babylon had carried away captive ^(C)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. ² One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so ^(D)bad. ³ Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad.”

⁴ Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁵ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Like these good figs, so will I ^[a]acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans. ⁶ For I will set My eyes on them for good, and ^(E)I will bring them back to this land; ^(F)I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. ⁷ Then I will give them ^(G)a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be ^(H)My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me ^(I)with their whole heart.

⁸ ‘And as the bad ^(J)figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad’—surely thus says the Lord—‘so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the ^(K)residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and ^(L)those who dwell in the land of Egypt. ⁹ I will deliver them to ^(M)trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, ^(N)to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them. ¹⁰ And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are ^[b]consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’ ”

Jeremiah Saved from Death^(A)

26 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand in ^(B)the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord’s house, ^(C)all the words that I command you to speak to them. ^(D)Do not diminish a word. ^3 (E)Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may ^(F)relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’ ⁴ And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(G)“If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, ⁵ to heed the words of My servants the prophets ^(H)whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded), ⁶ then I will make this house like ^(I)Shiloh, and will make this city ^(J)a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”

⁷ So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.