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Jeremiah 18 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Potter and the Clay

18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ²“Arise and ^(A)go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” ³So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. ⁴But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

⁵Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁶“Am I not able, house of Israel, to deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the ^(B)clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel. ⁷At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to ^(C)uproot it, to tear it down, or to destroy it; ⁸^(D)if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will ^(E)relent of the disaster that I planned to bring on it. ⁹Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to ^(F)build up or to plant it; ¹⁰if it does ^(G)evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will ^(H)relent of the good with which I said ^[a]that I would bless it. ¹¹So now, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am ^(I)forming a disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Now ^(J)turn back, each of you from his evil way, and ^[b]correct your ways and your deeds!”’ ¹²But ^(K)they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will ^[c]persist in the ^(L)stubbornness of his evil heart.’

¹³“Therefore this is what the Lord says:
‘^(M)Just ask among the nations,
Who ever heard anything like ^[d]this?
The ^(N)virgin of Israel
Has done a most ^(O)appalling thing.
¹⁴Does the snow of Lebanon leave the rock of the open country alone?
Or is the cold flowing water from a foreign land ever dried up?
¹⁵For ^(P)My people have forgotten Me,
^(Q)They burn incense ^[e]to worthless gods.
And they ^[f]have stumbled in their ways,
In the ^(R)ancient roads,
To walk on paths,
Not on a ^(S)highway,
¹⁶To make their land a ^(T)desolation,
An object of perpetual ^(U)hissing;
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished
And ^(V)shake his head.
¹⁷Like an ^(W)east wind I will ^(X)scatter them
Before the enemy;
I will ^[g]show them ^(Y)My back and not My face
^(Z)In the day of their disaster.’”

¹⁸Then they said, “Come and let’s ^(AA)devise plans against Jeremiah. Certainly the ^(AB)Law is not going to be lost by the priest, nor ^(AC)advice by the wise, nor the divine ^(AD)word by the prophet! Come, and let’s ^(AE)strike at him with our tongue, and let’s ^(AF)pay no attention to any of his words.”

¹⁹Give Your attention to me, Lord,
And listen to ^[h]what my opponents are saying!
²⁰^(AG)Should good be repaid with evil?
For they have ^(AH)dug a pit for ^[i]me.
Remember how I ^(AI)stood before You
To speak good in their behalf,
So as to turn Your wrath away from them.
²¹Therefore, ^(AJ)give their children over to famine
And turn them over to the ^[j]power of the sword;
And let their wives become ^(AK)childless and ^(AL)widowed.
Let their men also be slaughtered to death,
Their ^(AM)young men struck and killed by the sword in battle.
²²May a ^(AN)cry be heard from their houses
When You suddenly bring raiders upon them;
^(AO)For they have dug a pit to capture me
And ^(AP)hidden snares for my feet.
²³But You, Lord, know
All their ^[k]deadly schemes against me;
^(AQ)Do not ^[l]forgive their wrongdoing
Or wipe out their sin from Your sight.
But may they be ^[m]^(AR)overthrown before You;
Deal with them in the ^(AS)time of Your anger!

New American Standard Bible (NASB)