| International Standard Version | English Standard Version |
| 1The message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: | 1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: |
| 2"Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I'll allow you to hear my words." | 2“Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” |
| 3So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was doing work at the potter's wheel. | 3So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. |
| 4But the vessel he was working on with the clay was ruined in the potter's hand. So he remade it into another vessel that seemed appropriate to him. | 4And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. |
| 5Then this message from the LORD came to me: | 5Then the word of the LORD came to me: |
| 6"Israel, can't I deal with you like this potter?" declares the LORD. "Look, Israel, like clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand. | 6“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. |
| 7At one moment I may speak about a nation or a kingdom to uproot it, pull it down, or destroy it. | 7If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, |
| 8But if that nation about which I spoke turns from its evil way, I'll change my mind about the disaster that I had planned for it. | 8and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. |
| 9At another moment I may speak about a nation or kingdom to build it or plant it. | 9And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, |
| 10But if that nation does evil in my eyes by not obeying me, I'll change my mind about the good that I said I would bring on it. | 10and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. |
| 11"Now say to the people of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem, 'This is what the LORD says: "Look, I'm designing a disaster just for you, and I'm making plans against you. Each one of you must repent from his evil way. Make your ways and deeds right."' | 11Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ |
| 12But they'll say, 'It's useless! We will follow our plans and each of us will pursue his own evil desires.' | 12“But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ |
| 13"Therefore, this is what the LORD says: 'Ask the nations. Who has ever heard of anything like this? You have done a most horrible thing, virgin Israel. | 13“Therefore thus says the LORD: Ask among the nations, Who has heard the like of this? The virgin Israel has done a very horrible thing. |
| 14Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Or does the cold water from a foreign land ever cease to flow? | 14Does the snow of Lebanon leave the crags of Sirion? Do the mountain waters run dry, the cold flowing streams? |
| 15Yet my people have forgotten me, and they burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their journey on the ancient paths. They walk on trails, on a way that is not built up. | 15But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway, |
| 16They make their land into a desolate place, an object of lasting scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads. | 16making their land a horror, a thing to be hissed at forever. Everyone who passes by it is horrified and shakes his head. |
| 17Like the east wind, I'll scatter them before the enemy. I'll show them my back and not my face, on the day of their downfall.'" | 17Like the east wind I will scatter them before the enemy. I will show them my back, not my face, in the day of their calamity.” |
| 18Then they said, "Come, let's make up a plot against Jeremiah. After all, the priest's instruction, the wise man's counsel, and the prophet's message won't be destroyed. So let's verbally attack him. Pay no attention to anything he says!" | 18Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.” |
| 19LORD, pay attention to me. Listen to the voice of my accusers! | 19Hear me, O LORD, and listen to the voice of my adversaries. |
| 20Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit to take my life. Remember! I stood before you and spoke good on their behalf in order to turn your wrath away from them. | 20Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for my life. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them. |
| 21Therefore, make their children undergo famine, and deliver them over to death in time of war. May their women be childless widows! May their men be slaughtered! May their young men be slain by the sword in battle! | 21Therefore deliver up their children to famine; give them over to the power of the sword; let their wives become childless and widowed. May their men meet death by pestilence, their youths be struck down by the sword in battle. |
| 22Let a cry be heard from their houses because you have brought a raiding party against them suddenly. For they have dug a pit to capture me and have set traps for my feet. | 22May a cry be heard from their houses, when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them! For they have dug a pit to take me and laid snares for my feet. |
| 23But you, LORD, know all their plots to kill me. Don't forgive their iniquity, and don't erase their sin from your sight. Let them stumble before you. When it's time for you to be angry, act against them! | 23Yet you, O LORD, know all their plotting to kill me. Forgive not their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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