Jeremiah 18
1 The word that came from the Lord to
2 Jeremiah, saying, Arise, and go down
to the potter's house, and there thou shalt hear my words.
3 So I went down to the potter's
house, and behold, he was making a vessel on the stones.
4 And the vessel which he was making
with his hands fell: so he made it again another vessel, as it seemed good to
him to make it.
5 And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying,
6 Shall I not be able, O house of
Israel, to do to you as this potter? behold, as the clay of the potter are ye
in my hands. 7 If I shall pronounce a decree upon a nation, or upon
a kingdom, to cut them off, and to destroy them;
8 and that nation turn from all their
sins, then will I repent of the evils which I purposed to do to them.
9 And if I
shall pronounce a decree upon a nation and kingdom, to rebuild and to plant
it; 10 and
they do evil before me, so as not to hearken to my voice, then will I repent
of the good which I spoke of, to do it to them.
11 And now say to the men of Juda,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Behold, I prepare evils against you, and
devise a device against you: let every one turn now from his evil way, and
amend your practices. 12 And they
said, We will quit ourselves like men, for we will pursue our perverse ways,
and we will perform each the lusts of his evil heart.
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord;
Enquire now among the nations, who has heard such very horrible things as the
virgin of Israel has done? 14 Will
fertilising streams fail to flow from a rock, or snow
fail from Libanus? will water violently impelled by
the wind turn aside? 15 For my people
have forgotten me, they have offered incense in vain, and they fail in their
ways, leaving the ancient tracks, to enter upon
impassable paths; 16 to make their
land a desolation, and a perpetual hissing; all that go through it shall be
amazed, and shall shake their heads.
17 I will scatter them before their
enemies like an east wind; I will shew them the day of their destruction.
18 Then they said, Come, and let us
devise a device against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the
priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and
let us smite him with the tongue, and we will hear all his words.
19 Hear me, O Lord, and hear the
voice of my pleading. 20 Forasmuch as
evil is rewarded for good; for they have spoken words against my soul, and
they have hidden the punishment they meant for me;
remember that I stood before thy face, to speak good for them, to turn away
thy wrath from them. 21 Therefore do
thou deliver their sons to famine, and gather them to the power of the sword:
let their women be childless and widows; and let their men be cut off by
death, and their young men fall by the sword in war.
22 Let there be a cry in their
houses: thou shalt bring upon them robbers suddenly: for they have formed a
plan to take me, and have hidden snares for me.
23 And thou, Lord, knowest all their
deadly counsel against me: account not their iniquities guiltless, and blot
not out their sins from before thee: let their weakness come before thee; deal
with them in the time of thy wrath.