Jeremia 18 | King James Version

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potter' house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter' house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it . 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter' hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it ; 8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. 9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it ; 10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. 11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. 12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. 13 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. 14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? 15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; 16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. 17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity. 18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices 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 let us not give heed to any of his words. 19 Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. 20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them. 21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle. 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. 23 Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me : forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

New International Reader’s Version

The Lord sends Jeremiah to the potter’s house

1 A message from the LORD came to me. He said, 2 ‘Jeremiah, go down to the potter’s house. I will give you my message there.’ 3 So I went down to the potter’s house. I saw him working at his wheel. 4 His hands were shaping a pot out of clay. But he saw that something was wrong with it. So he formed it into another pot. He shaped it in the way that seemed best to him. 5 Then the LORD’s message came to me. 6 ‘People of Israel, I can do with you just as this potter does,’ announces the LORD. ‘The clay is in the potter’s hand. And you are in my hand, people of Israel. 7 Suppose I announce that something will happen to a nation or kingdom. Suppose I announce that it will be pulled up by the roots. And I announce that it will be torn down and destroyed. 8 But suppose the nation I warned turns away from its sins. Then I will not do what I said I would. I will not bring trouble on it as I had planned. 9 But suppose I announce that a nation or kingdom is going to be built up and planted. 10 And then it does what is evil in my eyes. It does not obey me. Then I will think again about the good things I had wanted to do for it. 11 ‘So speak to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Tell them, “The LORD says, ‘Look! I am making plans against you. I am going to bring trouble on you. So each one of you must turn from your evil ways. Change the way you live and act.’ ” 12 But they will reply, “It’s no use. We will continue to do what we’ve already planned. All of us will do what our stubborn and evil hearts want us to do.” ’ 13 So the LORD says, ‘Ask the nations a question. Say to them, “Who has ever heard anything like this? The people of Israel have done a very horrible thing. 14 Does the snow ever disappear from Lebanon’s rocky slopes? Do its cool waters ever stop flowing from places far away? 15 But my people have forgotten me. They burn incense to worthless gods. Their gods made them trip and fall as they walked on the old paths. They made them use side roads instead of roads that were built up. 16 So their land will become a horrible thing. People will make fun of it again and again. All those who pass by it will be shocked. They will shake their heads. 17 I will sweep over my people like a wind from the east. I will use the Babylonians to scatter them. I will show them my back and not my face. I will desert them when their day of trouble comes.” ’ 18 They said, ‘Come on. Let’s make plans against Jeremiah. We’ll still have priests to teach us the law. We’ll always have wise people to give us advice. We’ll have prophets to bring us messages from the LORD. So come on. Let’s speak out against Jeremiah. We shouldn’t pay any attention to what he says.’ 19 LORD, please listen to me! Hear what my enemies are saying about me! 20 Should the good things I’ve done be paid back with evil? But my enemies have dug a pit for me. Remember that I stood in front of you and spoke up for them. I tried to turn your anger away from them. 21 So let their children die of hunger. Let my enemies be killed in war. Let their wives lose their children and husbands. Let their men be put to death. Let their young men be killed in battle. 22 Bring their enemies against them without warning. Let cries be heard from their houses. They have dug a pit to capture me. They have hidden traps for my feet. 23 But LORD, you know all about their plans to kill me. Don’t forgive their crimes. Don’t erase their sins from your sight. Destroy my enemies. Punish them when the time to show your anger comes.

Jeremia 18 | King James Version New International Reader’s Version

The Lord sends Jeremiah to the potter’s house