Jeremiah 18:1-17

1The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, 2“Arise and 1go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” 3Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the 2wheel. 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“Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the 3clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. 7At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to 4uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; 85if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will 67relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. 9Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to 8build up or to plant it; 10if it does 9evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will 1011think better of the good with which I had promised to 12bless it. 11So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am 13fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh 14turn back, each of you from his evil way, and 15reform your ways and your deeds.”’ 12But 16they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the 17stubbornness of his evil heart.’

13“Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘18Ask now among the nations, Who ever heard the like of 19this? The 20virgin of Israel Has done a most 21appalling thing.14Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country? Or is the cold flowing water from a foreign land ever snatched away?15For 22My people have forgotten Me, 23They burn incense 24to worthless gods And they 25have stumbled 26from their ways, 27From the 28ancient paths, To walk in bypaths, Not on a 29highway,16To make their land a 30desolation, An object of perpetual 31hissing; Everyone who passes by it will be astonished And 32shake his head.17Like an 33east wind I will 34scatter them Before the enemy; I will 35show them 36My back and not My face 37In the day of their calamity.’”