Old Testament · Prophets

Jeremiah chapter 18

This is the that came to Jeremiah from :“Get up and go down to the . I’ll give you my message there.”So I went down to the potter’s workshop, and there he was, working at his .But the pot he was shaping from the clay came out in his hands—so the potter it into a different pot, whatever seemed right to him.Then Yahweh’s message came to me:“Can’t I do with you what this potter does, ?” Yahweh. “Look—like clay in the potter’s hands, that’s what you are in my hands, people of Israel.”“At any moment I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be .”“But if that nation I warned , I’ll the disaster I had planned for it.”“And at any moment I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be .”“But if it does and refuses to listen to my voice, I’ll reconsider the good I had planned for it.”“So now, tell the people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem: ‘This is what Yahweh says: Look—I am disaster for you. I am against you. Each one of you, from your destructive path. Fix your ways and your actions.’”But they’ll say, “. We’re going to follow our own plans. Each of us will act on the .”So this is what Yahweh says: “Ask around among the nations— has anyone ever heard anything like this? The has done something .”“Does the snow of ever vanish from its ? Do the cold streams flowing down from far-off mountains ever dry up?”“But my people have . They burn incense to that made them stumble off the — the well-worn roads— and wander down unmarked trails instead.”“They’ve turned their land into a , a target of endless scorn. Everyone who passes through will be shocked and .”“Like an I will scatter them before their enemies. I will , on the day of their disaster.”Then they said, “Come on, let’s make plans against Jeremiah. After all, won’t disappear just because the priest is gone, and won’t vanish just because the wise man is gone, and the message won’t stop just because the prophet is gone. Come on—let’s and ignore everything he says.” to me, Yahweh! Listen to what my are saying!Should good be repaid with destruction? They’ve for me. Remember how I and , trying to turn your anger away from them.So hand their children over to . to the blade of the sword. Let their wives lose their children and become widows. Let their men be cut down by death, their young men struck by the sword in battle.Let be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring against them. Because they dug a pit to capture me and hid for my feet.But you, Yahweh—you know every one of their plans to kill me. Don’t wipe away their . Don’t erase their from your sight. Let them be brought down right in front of you. Deal with them in .