1 THE word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
6 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 mine hand, O house of Israel.
7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
11 Now therefore go to, 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.
12 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.
13 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.
14 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?
15 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;
16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
18 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.
19 Give heed to me, O Lord, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.
20 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.
21 Therefore deliver up 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.
22 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.
23 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 thine anger

1The word which came to Ieremiah from þe Lord saying,

2Arise and go downe to the potters house, & there I will cause thee to heare my words.

3Then I went downe to the potters house, and behold, hee wrought a worke on the wheeles.

4And the vessell that he made of clay, was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it againe another vessell as seemed good to the potter to make it.

5Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

6O house of Israel, cannot I doe with you as this potter, saith the Lord ? Behold, as the clay is in the potters hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

7At what instant I shall speake concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdome, to plucke vp and to pull downe, and to destroy it.

8If that nation against whom I haue pronounced, turne from their euill, I will repent of the euill that I thought to doe vnto them.

9And at what instant I shall speake concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdome to build and to plant it;

10If it doe euill in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good; wherewith I saide I would benefite them.

11 Now therefore goe to, speake to the men of Iudah, and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame euill against you, and deuise a deuice against you: returne ye now euery one from his euill way, and make your waies and your doings good.

12And they said, There is no hope, but wee will walke after our owne deuices, and wee will euery one doe the imagination of his euil heart.

13Therefore thus saith the Lord, Aske ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things? the Uirgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

14Will a man leaue the snow of Lebanon which commeth from the rocke of the fielde? or shall the colde flowing waters that come from another place, be forsaken?

15Because my people hath forgotten mee, they haue burnt incense to vanitie, and they haue caused them to stumble in their waies from the ancient paths, to walke in paths, in a way not cast vp,

16To make their land desolate and a perpetuall hissing: euery one that passeth thereby shall bee astonished, and wagge his head.

17I will scatter them as with an East winde before the enemie: I will shew them the backe, and not the face, in the day of their calamitie.

18 Then said they, Come, and let vs deuise deuices against Ieremiah: for the Law shall not perish from the Priest, nor counsell from the wise, nor the word from the prophet: Come and let vs smite him with the tongue, and let vs not giue heede to any of his wordes.

19Giue heed to me, O Lord, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.

20Shall euill bee recompensed for good? for they haue digged a pit for my soule: remember that I stood before thee to speake good for them, and to turne away thy wrath from them.

21Therefore deliuer vp their children to the famine, and powre out their blood by the force of the sword, and let their wiues be bereaued of their children and be widowes, and let their men be put to death, let their yong men be slaine by the sword in battell.

22Let a crie bee heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troupe suddenly vpon them, for they haue digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.

23Yet Lord thou knowest all their counsell against me to slay mee: forgiue not their iniquitie, neither blot out their sinne from thy sight, but let them bee ouerthrowen before thee, deale thus with them in the time of thine anger.

VI == Isa 45:9 ; 64:8 ; rom 9:20-21

VII == Jer 1:10

VIII == Jer 26:3 ; Ezek 18:21 ; 33:11 ; Jon 3:10

XI == 2nd Kings 17:13 ; Jer 7:3 ; 25:5 ; 26:13 ; 35:15

XII == Jer 2:25

XIII == Jer 2:10 ; 5:30 ; 1st Cor 5:1

XV == Jer 2:13 , 32 ; 3:21 ; 6:16 ; 10:15 ; 13:25 ; 16:19 ; 17:13

XVI == 1st Kings 9:8 ; Jer 19:8 ; 49:13 ; 50:13 ; Lam 2:15 ; Mic 6:16

XVII == Ps 48:7 ; Jer 2:27 ; 13:24

XVIII == Lev 10:11 ; Jer 11:19 ; Mal 2:7 ; John 7:48-49

XX == Ps 35:7 ; 57:6 ; 109:4-5 ; Jer 18:22

XXI == Ps 109:9-10

XXII Jer 18:20

XXIII == Josh 15:8 ; 2nd Kings 23:10 ; Ps 35:4 ; 109:14 ; Jer 7:31 ; 11:20 ; 15:15

1 This word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

2 Rise up, be off to the potter's house; there I will give you my message.

3 I went down to the potter's house and there he was, working at the wheel.

4 Whenever the object of clay which he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me:

6 Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done? says the LORD. Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.

7 Sometimes I threaten to uproot and tear down and destroy a nation or a kingdom.

8 But if that nation which I have threatened turns from its evil, I also repent of the evil which I threatened to do.

9 Sometimes, again, I promise to build up and plant a nation or a kingdom.

10 But if that nation does what is evil in my eyes, refusing to obey my voice, I repent of the good with which I promised to bless it.

11 And now, tell this to the men of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem: Thus says the LORD: Take care! I am fashioning evil against you and making a plan. Return, each of you, from his evil way; reform your ways and your deeds.

12 But they will say, "No use! We will follow our own devices; each one of us will behave according to the stubbornness of his evil heart!"

13 Therefore thus says the LORD: Ask among the nations - who has ever heard the like? Truly horrible things has virgin Israel done!

14 Does the snow of Lebanon desert the rocky heights? Do the gushing waters dry up that flow fresh down the mountains?

15 Yet my people have forgotten me: they burn incense to a thing that does not exist. They stumble out of their ways, the paths of old, To travel on bypaths, not the beaten track.

16 Their land shall be turned into a desert, an object of lasting ridicule: All passers-by will be amazed, will shake their heads.

17 Like the east wind, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them my back, not my face, in their day of disaster.

18 Come," they said, "let us contrive a plot against Jeremiah. It will not mean the loss of instruction from the priests, nor of counsel from the wise, nor of messages from the prophets. And so, let us destroy him by his own tongue; let us carefully note his every word."

19 Heed me, O LORD, and listen to what my adversaries say.

20 Must good be repaid with evil that they should dig a pit to take my life? Remember that I stood before you to speak in their behalf, to turn away your wrath from them.

21 So now, deliver their children to famine, do away with them by the sword. Let their wives be made childless and widows; let their men die of pestilence, their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

22 May cries be heard from their homes, when suddenly you send plunderers against them. For they have dug a pit to capture me, they have hid snares for my feet;

23 But you, O LORD, know all their plans to slay me. Forgive not their crime, blot not out their sin in your sight! Let them go down before you, proceed against them in the time of your anger.

v 1-4. This chapter is the message of the potter’s house. Jeremiah went to the potters house at God’s command and saw him making pots on his wheel. The potter saw a flaw in one pot, so he reshaped the clay and made another pot. Reshape Judah.

v 5-12. Jeremiah was to tell the people that they were like the lump of clay and God could pull down and destroy the nation. If they would repent of their evil, he would build them up, but if they did not, He would destroy. He planned evil against Jerusalem and urged them to turn from evil and do good, but they said they wouldn’t change.

v 13-17. The nations will observe that nature is more dependable than Israel in their rejection of God, so their land will become desolate and they will become a byword among the nations. God will scatter them and turn His back on them.

v 18,19. The people’s response was to rely on their priests and false prophets. They would give Jeremiah a tongue lashing, then ignore him.

v 20-23. The people also dug a pit to kill him. He had wept and pled their cause to the Lord before, but now he asks the Lord to bring upon them all the terrible judgments which had been warned. Since the Lord knew their intention to kill Jeremiah, he asked that they not be forgiven, but destroyed in God’s anger.