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The Potter and the Clay

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying,² "Arise and ^(C1)go down to the potter's house, and there I will announce My words to you."³ Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the ^(F1)wheel.⁴ But 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.

⁵ Then 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 ^(C1)clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.⁷ "At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to ^(C1)uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it;^8 (C1)if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will ^(F1)(C2)relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.⁹ "Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to ^(C1)build up or to plant it;¹⁰ if it does ^(C1)evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will ^(F1)(C2)think better of the good with which I had promised to ^(F2)bless it.¹¹ "So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am ^(C1)fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh ^(C2)turn back, each of you from his evil way, and ^(F1)reform your ways and your deeds."'¹² "But ^(C1)they will say, 'It's hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the ^(C2)stubbornness of his evil heart.'

¹³ "Therefore thus says the LORD,
'^(C1)Ask now among the nations,
Who ever heard the like of ^(F1)this?
The ^(C2)virgin of Israel
Has done a most ^(C3)appalling thing.

¹⁴ 'Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country?
Or is the cold flowing water from a foreign land ever snatched away?

¹⁵ 'For ^(C1)My people have forgotten Me,
^(C2)They burn incense ^(F1)to worthless gods
And they ^(F2)have stumbled ^(F3)from their ways,
^(F3)From the ^(C3)ancient paths,
To walk in bypaths,
Not on a ^(C4)highway,

¹⁶ To make their land a ^(C1)desolation,
An object of perpetual ^(C2)hissing;
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished
And ^(C3)shake his head.

¹⁷ 'Like an ^(C1)east wind I will ^(C2)scatter them
Before the enemy;
I will ^(F1)show them ^(C3)My back and not My face
^(C4)In the day of their calamity.'"

¹⁸ Then they said, "Come and let us ^(C1)devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the ^(C2)law is not going to be lost to the priest, nor ^(C3)counsel to the sage, nor the divine ^(C4)word to the prophet! Come on and let us ^(C5)strike at him with our tongue, and let us ^(C6)give no heed to any of his words."

¹⁹ Do give heed to me, O LORD,
And listen to ^(F1)what my opponents are saying!

^20 (C1)Should good be repaid with evil?
For they have ^(C2)dug a pit for ^(F1)me.
Remember how I ^(C3)stood before You
To speak good on their behalf,
So as to turn away Your wrath from them.

²¹ Therefore, ^(C1)give their children over to famine
And deliver them up to the ^(F1)power of the sword;
And let their wives become ^(C2)childless and ^(C3)widowed.
Let their men also be smitten to death,
Their ^(C4)young men struck down by the sword in battle.

²² May an ^(C1)outcry be heard from their houses,
When You suddenly bring raiders upon them;
^(C2)For they have dug a pit to capture me
And ^(C3)hidden snares for my feet.

²³ Yet You, O LORD, know
All their ^(F1)deadly designs against me;
^(C1)Do not ^(F2)forgive their iniquity
Or blot out their sin from Your sight.
But may they be ^(F3)(C2)overthrown before You;
Deal with them in the ^(C3)time of Your anger!