1The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah , saying , 2Arise , and go down to the potter ’s house , and there I will cause thee to hear my words . 3Then I went down to the potter ’s house , and , behold , he was making a work on the wheels. 4And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter , he made it again another vessel , as seemed good to the potter to make it . 5Then the word of Jehovah came to me , saying , 6O house of Israel , cannot I do with you as this potter ? saith Jehovah . Behold , as the clay in the potter ’s hand , so are ye in my hand , O house of Israel .
God's Warning to Israel
7At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation , and concerning a kingdom , to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it ; 8if that nation , concerning which I have spoken , turn from their evil , I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them . 9And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation , and concerning a kingdom , to build and to plant it ; 10if they do that which is evil in my sight , that they obey not my voice , then I will repent of the good , wherewith I said I would benefit them .
The Response of the People
11Now therefore , speak to the men of Judah , and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem , saying, Thus saith Jehovah : Behold , I frame evil against you , and devise a device against you : return ye now every one from his evil way , and amend your ways and your doings . 12But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices , and we will do every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart . 13Therefore thus saith Jehovah : Ask ye now among the nations , who hath heard such things ; the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing . 14Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field ? or shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up ? 15For my people have forgotten me , they have burned incense to false gods ; and they have been made to stumble in their ways , in the ancient paths , to walk in bypaths , in a way not cast up ; 16to make their land an astonishment , and a perpetual hissing ; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished , and shake his head . 17I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back , and not the face , in the day of their calamity.
Jeremiah's Plea and God's Assurance
18Then said they , Come , and let us devise devices against Jeremiah ; for the law shall not perish from the priest , nor counsel from the wise , nor the word from the prophet . Come , and let us smite him with the tongue , and let us not give heed to any of his words . 19Give heed to me , O Jehovah , and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me . 20Shall evil be recompensed for good ? for they have digged a pit for my soul . Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them , to turn away thy wrath from them . 21Therefore deliver up their children to the famine , and give them over to the power of the sword ; and let their wives become childless , and widows; and let their men be slain of death , and their young men smitten of the sword in battle . 22Let a cry be heard from their houses , when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them ; for they have digged a pit to take me , and hid snares for my feet . 23Yet , Jehovah , thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me ; forgive not their iniquity , neither blot out their sin from thy sight ; but let them be overthrown before thee ; deal thou with them in the time of thine anger .