The word
which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
02 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and
there I will cause thee to hear my words.
03 Then I went down to the potter's house, and,
behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
04 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred
in the hand of the potter: so he made it again
another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to
make it.
05 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
06 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as
this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay
is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand,
O house of Israel.
07 At what instant I shall speak concerning a
nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up,
and to pull down, and to destroy it;
08 If that nation, against whom I have
pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent
of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
09 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a
nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to
plant it;
10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my
voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith
I said I would benefit them.
11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of
Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
saying, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil
against you, and devise a device against you:
return ye now every one from his evil way, and
make your ways and your doings good.
12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will
walk after our own devices, and we will every one
do the imagination of his evil heart.
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ask ye now
among the heathen, who hath heard such things:
the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible
thing.
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14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which
cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the
cold flowing waters that come from another place
be forsaken?
15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they have
burned incense to vanity, and they have caused
them to stumble in their ways from the ancient
paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual
hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be
astonished, and wag his head.
17 I will scatter them as with an east wind
before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and
not the face, in the day of their calamity.
18 Then 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.
19 Give heed to me, O Lord, and hearken to the
voice of them that contend with me.
20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they
have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I
stood before thee to speak good for them, and to
turn away thy wrath from them.
21 Therefore deliver up their children to the
famine, and pour out their blood by the force of
the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of
their children, and be widows; and let their men
be put to death; let their young men be slain by
the sword in battle.
22 Let 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.
23 Yet, Lord, 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 thus with them in the time of thine anger.
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