18Jeremiah 18

Jeremiah at the Potter's House

1The Lord said to me,Select Jeremiah 18:1

2“Go down to the potter's house, where I will give you my message.”Select Jeremiah 18:2

3So I went there and saw the potter working at his wheel.Select Jeremiah 18:3

4Whenever a piece of pottery turned out imperfect, he would take the clay and make it into something else.Select Jeremiah 18:4

5Then the Lord said to me,Select Jeremiah 18:5

6“Don't I have the right to do with you people of Israel what the potter did with the clay? You are in my hands just like clay in the potter's hands.Select Jeremiah 18:6

7If at any time I say that I am going to uproot, break down, or destroy any nation or kingdom,Select Jeremiah 18:7

8but then that nation turns from its evil, I will not do what I said I would.Select Jeremiah 18:8

9On the other hand, if I say that I am going to plant or build up any nation or kingdom,Select Jeremiah 18:9

10but then that nation disobeys me and does evil, I will not do what I said I would.Select Jeremiah 18:10

11Now then, tell the people of Judah and of Jerusalem that I am making plans against them and getting ready to punish them. Tell them to stop living sinful lives—to change their ways and the things they are doing.Select Jeremiah 18:11

12They will answer, ‘No, why should we? We will all be just as stubborn and evil as we want to be.’”Select Jeremiah 18:12

The People Reject the

13The Lord says, “Ask every nation if such a thing has ever happened before. The people of Israel have done a terrible thing!Select Jeremiah 18:13

14Are Lebanon's rocky heights ever without snow? Do its cool mountain streams ever run dry?Select Jeremiah 18:14

15Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to idols. They have stumbled in the way they should go; they no longer follow the old ways; they walk on unmarked paths.Select Jeremiah 18:15

16They have made this land a thing of horror, to be despised forever. All who pass by will be shocked at what they see; they will shake their heads in amazement.Select Jeremiah 18:16

17I will scatter my people before their enemies, like dust blown by the east wind. I will turn my back on them; I will not help them when the disaster comes.”Select Jeremiah 18:17

A Plot against Jeremiah

18Then the people said, “Let's do something about Jeremiah! There will always be priests to instruct us, the wise to give us counsel, and prophets to proclaim God's message. Let's bring charges against him and stop listening to what he says.”Select Jeremiah 18:18

19So I prayed, “Lord, hear what I am saying and listen to what my enemies are saying about me.Select Jeremiah 18:19

20Is evil the payment for good? Yet they have dug a pit for me to fall in. Remember how I came to you and spoke on their behalf, so that you would not deal with them in anger.Select Jeremiah 18:20

21But now, Lord, let their children starve to death; let them be killed in war. Let the women lose their husbands and children; let the men die of disease and the young men be killed in battle.Select Jeremiah 18:21

22Send a mob to plunder their homes without warning; make them cry out in terror. They have dug a pit for me to fall in and have set traps to catch me.Select Jeremiah 18:22

23But, Lord, you know all their plots to kill me. Do not forgive their evil or pardon their sin. Throw them down in defeat and deal with them while you are angry.”Select Jeremiah 18:23