Jeremiah 18:5-15

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 1clay 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 2uproot it, to tear it down, or to destroy it; 83if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will 4relent 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 5build up or to plant it; 10if it does 6evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will 7relent of the good with which I said 8that 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 9forming a disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Now 10turn back, each of you from his evil way, and 11correct your ways and your deeds!”’ 12But 12they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will 13persist in the 14stubbornness of his evil heart.’

13“Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘15Just ask among the nations, Who ever heard anything like 16this? The 17virgin of Israel Has done a most 18appalling 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 19My people have forgotten Me, 20They burn incense 21to worthless gods. And they 22have stumbled in their ways, In the 23ancient roads, To walk on paths, Not on a 24highway,