| Holman Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: | 1The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, |
| 2"Go down at once to the potter's house; there I will reveal My words to you." | 2“Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” |
| 3So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, working away at the wheel. | 3So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. |
| 4But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter's hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do. | 4But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. |
| 5The word of the LORD came to me: | 5Then the LORD gave me this message: |
| 6"House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?"--this is the LORD's declaration. "Just like clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel. | 6“O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. |
| 7At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it. | 7If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, |
| 8However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it. | 8but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. |
| 9At another time I announce that I will build and plant a nation or a kingdom. | 9And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, |
| 10However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it. | 10but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would. |
| 11So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem: This is what the LORD says: I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds. | 11“Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’” |
| 12But they will say, 'It's hopeless. We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.'" | 12But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.” |
| 13Therefore, this is what the LORD says: Ask among the nations, Who has heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing. | 13So this is what the LORD says: “Has anyone ever heard of such a thing, even among the pagan nations? My virgin daughter Israel has done something terrible! |
| 14Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave the highland crags? Or does cold water flowing from a distance ever fail? | 14Does the snow ever disappear from the mountaintops of Lebanon? Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever run dry? |
| 15Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to false idols that make them stumble in their ways on the ancient roads and walk on new paths, not the highway. | 15But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me; they burn incense to worthless idols. They have stumbled off the ancient highways and walk in muddy paths. |
| 16They have made their land a horror, a perpetual object of scorn; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and shake his head. | 16Therefore, their land will become desolate, a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and will shake their heads in amazement. |
| 17I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face on the day of their calamity. | 17I will scatter my people before their enemies as the east wind scatters dust. And in all their trouble I will turn my back on them and refuse to notice their distress.” A Plot against Jeremiah |
| 18Then certain ones said, "Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will never be lost from the priest, or counsel from the wise, or an oracle from the prophet. Come, let's denounce him and pay no attention to all his words." | 18Then the people said, “Come on, let’s plot a way to stop Jeremiah. We have plenty of priests and wise men and prophets. We don’t need him to teach the word and give us advice and prophecies. Let’s spread rumors about him and ignore what he says.” |
| 19Pay attention to me, LORD. Hear what my opponents are saying! | 19LORD, hear me and help me! Listen to what my enemies are saying. |
| 20Should 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 anger from them. | 20Should they repay evil for good? They have dug a pit to kill me, though I pleaded for them and tried to protect them from your anger. |
| 21Therefore, hand their children over to famine, and pour the sword's power on them. Let their wives become childless and widowed, their husbands slain by deadly disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle. | 21So let their children starve! Let them die by the sword! Let their wives become childless widows. Let their old men die in a plague, and let their young men be killed in battle! |
| 22Let 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. | 22Let screaming be heard from their homes as warriors come suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit for me and have hidden traps along my path. |
| 23But You, LORD, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their guilt; do not blot out their sin before You. Let them be forced to stumble before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger. | 23LORD, you know all about their murderous plots against me. Don’t forgive their crimes and blot out their sins. Let them die before you. Deal with them in your anger. |
| Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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