The Potter and the Clay 1 WBS The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, BSB BSB: This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
2 WBS Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. BSB BSB: “Go down at once to the potter’s house, and there I will give you My message.”
3 WBS Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. BSB BSB: So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working at the wheel.
4 WBS And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it . BSB BSB: But the vessel that he was shaping from the clay became flawed in his hand; so he formed it into another vessel, as it seemed best for him to do.
5 WBS Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, BSB BSB: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6 WBS 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 my hand, O house of Israel. BSB BSB: “O house of Israel, declares the LORD, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay? Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
7 WBS At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it ;BSB BSB: At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.
8 WBS If that nation against which I have pronounced, shall turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them. BSB BSB: But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.
9 WBS And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it ; BSB BSB: And if at another time I announce that I will build up and establish a nation or kingdom,
10 WBS If it shall do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, with which I said I would benefit them. BSB BSB: and if it does evil in My sight and does not listen to My voice, then I will relent of the good I had intended for it.
11 WBS Now therefore come, 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. BSB BSB: Now therefore, tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am planning a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways, and correct your ways and deeds.’
12 WBS 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. BSB BSB: But they will reply, ‘It is hopeless. We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
13 WBS 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. BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.
14 WBS 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? BSB BSB: Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave its rocky slopes? Or do its cool waters flowing from a distance ever run dry?
15 WBS 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; BSB BSB: Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.
16 WBS To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and wag his head. BSB BSB: They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
17 WBS I 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. BSB BSB: I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity.”
Another Plot against Jeremiah (Jeremiah 11:18–23)
18 WBS 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. BSB BSB: Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”
19 WBS Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. BSB BSB: Attend to me, O LORD. Hear what my accusers are saying!
20 WBS 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. BSB BSB: Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them.
21 WBS Therefore deliver 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. BSB BSB: Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
22 WBS 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. BSB BSB: Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.
23 WBS 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 thy anger. BSB BSB: But You, O LORD, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their guilt or blot out their sin from Your sight. Let them be overthrown before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger.