God the potter

18 Jeremiah received the Lord’s word: ² Go down to the potter’s house, and I’ll give you instructions about what to do there. ³ So I went down to the potter’s house; he was working on the potter’s wheel. ⁴ But the piece he was making was flawed while still in his hands, so the potter started on another, as seemed best to him. ⁵ Then the Lord’s word came to me: ⁶ House of Israel, can’t I deal with you like this potter, declares the Lord? Like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in mine, house of Israel! ⁷ At any time I may announce that I will dig up, pull down, and destroy a nation or kingdom; ⁸ but if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I’ll relent and not carry out the harm I intended for it. ⁹ At the same time, I may announce that I will build and plant a nation or kingdom; ¹⁰ but if that nation displeases and disobeys me, then I’ll relent and not carry out the good I intended for it. ¹¹ Now say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I am a potter preparing a disaster for you; I’m working out a plan against you. So each one of you, turn from your evil ways; reform your ways and your actions.

¹⁸ Then they said, “Come, let’s unite against Jeremiah, for the priest’s instruction won’t fail, nor will the sage’s counsel, nor the prophet’s word. Come, let’s silence him and pay no attention to his words.”

Jesus predicts his death and resurrection

¹⁷ As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve aside by themselves on the road. He told them, ¹⁸ “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Human One^[a] will be handed over to the chief priests and legal experts. They will condemn him to death. ¹⁹ They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be ridiculed, tortured, and crucified. But he will be raised on the third day.”

Request from James and John’s mother

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus along with her sons. Bowing before him, she asked a favor of him.

²¹ “What do you want?” he asked.

She responded, “Say that these two sons of mine will sit, one on your right hand and one on your left, in your kingdom.”

²² Jesus replied, “You don’t know what you’re asking! Can you drink from the cup that I’m about to drink from?”

They said to him, “We can.”

²³ He said to them, “You will drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left hand isn’t mine to give. It belongs to those for whom my Father prepared it.”

²⁴ Now when the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called them over and said, “You know that those who rule the Gentiles show off their authority over them and their high-ranking officials order them around. ²⁶ But that’s not the way it will be with you. Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant. ²⁷ Whoever wants to be first among you will be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Human One^[b] didn’t come to be served but rather to serve and to give his life to liberate many people.”