I can do what a potter does with his clay
1The Lord talked to me and He said: 2‘Jeremiah, you must go to the potter's house. I will talk to you there.’
3I went to the potter's house. He was busy making a pot on his potter's wheel. 4But there was something wrong with the clay pot that he made with his hands, so he broke it, started over and made another pot with the clay, as he wanted it to be.
5Then the Lord said to me: ‘Jeremiah, you must tell the people that the Lord says: 6“Israelites, I can do the same with you as the potter has done with his clay. 7I can decide to pull out a nation or a land as someone pulls out a plant, and I can break it down and destroy it. 8But if those people stop doing the bad things that made Me want to punish them, then I will decide not to punish them. 9Or I can decide that I want to bless a nation or a land and build them up and plant them and let them grow strong, 10but if those people don't listen to Me and do things that I do not like, then I can decide not to do the good things to them that I wanted to do.”
11So, tell the people of Judah and the people who live in Jerusalem that the Lord says: “I have decided to make bad things happen to you. I have turned_against you. You must stop doing bad things. You must live in the right way and keep on doing things that are good.” 12Jeremiah, I know the people will say that it does not_matter, and they want to do what they want. They are stubborn, and everyone wants to do what the bad things in his heart tell him to do. 13That is why I say:
Go and ask other nations if they
have ever heard anything like this.
The Israelites have done something very bad.
14There is always snow
on the Lebanon Mountains
and the streams of cold water
come from far away, and continue to flow.
15But my people have forgotten Me.
They gave incense-offerings
to idols that are false gods.
My people have left the good
old path of their forefathers,
and have started to walk on paths
that take them to wrong places.
They have started to stumble over the stones.
16Their land will be destroyed,
and when people see what has happened
to the land, they will be shocked and whistle
and it will always be like that.
17I will chase the people of Judah away
when their enemies attack them.
I will blow them away
like the eastern wind blows away chaff.
And when they become afraid
on that day and ask Me to help them,
I will turn away from them,
and I will not look at them or listen to them.’
The plan against Jeremiah
18Then the people of Judah said: ‘We must make a plan against Jeremiah. We must say bad things about him and tell people not to listen to what he says. There will always be priests to teach us and wise people to tell us what to do and prophets who will tell us what the Lord says.’
19That is why I, Jeremiah, said to the Lord:
‘Lord, please protect me.
Listen to what my enemies say.
20I have done good things to them,
but they want to do something bad to me.
They have dug a hole for me,
and they want to catch me like an animal.
Remember how I stood before You
and asked You not to punish them
and not to be angry with them.
21But now I ask You to punish them
because of what they are doing to me.
Cause their children to die from hunger,
let their enemies defeat them in war,
let their wives have no children
and cause their husbands to be killed.
Let the men die of disease
and cause their young men to die in a war.
22They wanted to catch me
like an animal in a trap.
Make them suffer when enemies attack them
and let them shout for someone to help.
23Lord, You know everything.
You know all their plans to kill me.
Please don't forgive them,
and don't forget the sins they have done.
Let them fall in front of You
and punish them while You are angry.’
