Jeremiah Chapter 18
1 A Message from the LORD to Jeremiah
The Potter’s Shop
2 “Go down to the potter’s shop. I’ll give you my message there.”
3 When I got down to his shop, he was there, working at his wheel. 4 But the jar he was making with his hands didn’t come out the way he wanted; so he made another one out of it that he was satisfied with.
Jer 18:1-4
5 Then the LORD’s message came to me:
6 “Israel, can’t I deal with you like this potter did? You’re like clay in my hands. 7 At one time I might talk about uprooting, tearing down, or destroying a nation. 8 If it turns from its sin, I’ll relent. 9 At another time I might talk about planting it or building it up. 10 If it doesn’t obey, I’ll change my mind about the good I was going to do for it. 11 So tell the people in Judah and Jerusalem, ‘I’m preparing a catastrophe for you. Turn back from your sinful lives, every one of you. Reform your ways and deeds.’
12 “But they say, ‘We’re not going to do that! We’re going to make our own plans and do what we want to!’”
Jer 18:5-12
13 So the LORD says,
‘Ask around the nations;
who ever heard of anything like that?
The virgin Israel has done something terrible.
14 Does the snow in Lebanon ever leave
the rocky mountaintops out in the open country?
Does the cold, flowing mountain water ever dry up?
15 My people have forgotten me
and burn incense to foreign gods;
they stumble off their ancient ways
to walk on footpaths instead of a good road.
16 They end up making their land desolate,
something for other people to mock;
everybody that goes by just shake their heads at.
17 I’ll scatter them ahead of their enemies like an east wind
and turn my back on them when disaster comes.’”
Jer 18:13-17
A Plot Against Jeremiah
18 Then they said,
“Let’s lay a plot to stop Jeremiah.
We’ll still have the Law through our priests;
we can get our advice from other advisors;
the message can come from other prophets!
Let’s spread rumors about him
and ignore what he says.”
19“Listen, LORD;
do you hear what my opponents are saying!?
20Should people repay good with bad?
They’ve dug a pit to put me in.
Remember how I stood in your presence
to speak good on their behalf
and turn your anger away from them.
Jer 18:18-20
21So let their children starve;
deliver them to the sword.
Have their wives become childless widows;
let their husbands be struck down
and their young men die in battle.
22May they scream in their houses
when raiders suddenly break into them,
because they’ve dug a pit to capture me
and hidden snares for me to step in.
23LORD, you know about their deadly designs against me.
Don’t forgive their iniquity;
don’t blot out their sin;
overthrow them in anger!”
Jer 18:21-23