Jeremiah 18:1-12
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 18
The Potter’s House.[a] 1 This is the message delivered by the Lord to Jeremiah. 2 “Arise and go forth to the potter’s house, and then I will tell you what I have to say.” 3 Therefore, I proceeded to the potter’s house, where I found him working at his wheel. 4 Whenever the vessel he was making of clay turned out badly in his hands, he would use that clay to remold it into another vessel as he saw fit.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 Can I not do to you what this potter does, O house of Israel? Like the clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 On occasion I may threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a particular nation or kingdom. 8 However, should that nation which I have threatened turn away from its evil ways, I will then relent and not inflict the disaster I had devised. 9 On another occasion I may promise to build up and plant a nation or kingdom. 10 However, if that nation follows an evil path and refuses to obey me, then I will cease to bestow upon it the blessings that I had promised.
11 Therefore, now deliver this message to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Be forewarned! I am preparing a disaster for you and designing a plan against you. So now, each one of you, turn away from your evil pursuits and amend your conduct and your actions. 12 However, they will reply, “It is no use. We intend to continue our ways and follow the wicked inclinations of our heart.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Jeremiah 18:1 A visit to a potter suggests to the prophet Jeremiah the idea that God manipulates history as a potter does the clay: he softens and shapes it with the motion of the wheel, and he casts aside the waste.
