Jeremiah 18:1-12

Living Bible

18 Here is another message to Jeremiah from the Lord:

² Go down to the shop where clay pots and jars are made, and I will talk to you there. ³ I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. ⁴ But the jar that he was forming didn’t turn out as he wished, so he kneaded it into a lump and started again.

⁵ Then the Lord said: ⁶ O Israel, can’t I 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. ⁷ Whenever I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be taken up and destroyed, ⁸ then if that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. ⁹ And if I announce that I will make a certain nation strong and great, ¹⁰ but then that nation changes its mind, turns to evil, and refuses to obey me, then I, too, will change my mind and not bless that nation as I had said I would.

¹¹ Therefore, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem, saying: Hear the word of the Lord. I am planning evil against you now instead of good; turn back from your evil paths and do what is right.

¹² But they replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We have no intention whatever of doing what God says. We will continue to live as we want to, free from any restraint, full of stubbornness and wickedness!”