The potter and the clay
1THESE are the words which came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
2Go down now to the potter's house, and there I shall tell you what I have to say.
3I went down to the potter's house, where I found him working at the wheel.
4Now and then a vessel he was making from the clay would be spoilt in his hands, and he would remould it into another vessel to his liking.
5Then the word of the LORD came to me:
6Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with his clay? says the LORD. House of Israel, you are clay in my hands like the clay in his.
7At any moment I may threaten to uproot a nation or a kingdom, to pull it down and destroy it.
8But if the nation which I have threatened turns back from its wicked ways, then I shall think again about the disaster I had in mind for it.
9At another moment I may announce that I shall build or plant a nation or a kingdom.
10But if it does evil in my sight by disobeying me, I shall think again about the good I had in mind for it.
11Go now and tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem that these are the words of the LORD: I am framing disaster for you and perfecting my designs against you. Turn back, every one of you, from his evil conduct; mend your ways and your actions.
12But they will answer, “Things are past hope. We must stick to our own plans, and each of us follow the promptings of his wicked and stubborn heart.”
13Therefore these are the words of the LORD: Enquire among the nations: whoever heard the like of this? The virgin Israel has done a thing most horrible.
14Does the snow cease to fall from the rocky slopes of Lebanon? Does the cool rain streaming in torrents ever fail?
15No, but my people have forgotten me: they burn sacrifices to idols which cause them to stumble as they tread the ancient ways, and they take to byways and unmade roads;
16their own land they lay waste, an object of lasting derision, at which all passers-by shake their heads in horror.
17As with a wind from the east I shall scatter them before their enemies. In the hour of their downfall I shall turn my back and not my face towards them.
18The cry was raised: “Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah. There will still be priests to guide us, still wise men to give counsel, still prophets to proclaim the word. Let us invent some charges against him; let us pay no heed to anything he says.”
19But pay heed, LORD, and hear what my opponents are saying against me.
20Is good to be repaid with evil, that they have dug a pit for me? Remember how I stood before you, interceding on their behalf to avert your wrath from them.
21Therefore give their children over to famine, leave them at the mercy of the sword. Let their women be childless and widowed, let their men be slain by pestilence, their young men cut down in battle.
22Bring raiders on them without warning, and let screaming be heard from their houses. They have dug a pit to catch me and have laid snares for my feet.
23Well you know, LORD, all their murderous plots against me. Do not blot out their wrongdoing or wipe away their sin from your sight; when they are brought stumbling before you, deal with them on the day of your anger.