18THE WORD which came to Jeremiah from the Lord:H1697H3414H3068H5592Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.H6965H3381H3335H1004H8085H16973Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was working at the wheel.H3381H3335H1004H2009H6213H4399H704And the vessel that he was making from clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he made it over, reworking it into another vessel as it seemed good to the potter to make it.H3627H6213H2563H7843H3027H3335H6213H7725H312H3627H5869H3474H3335H62135Then the word of the Lord came to me:H1697H3068H5596O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? says the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.H1004H3478H3201H6213H3335H5002H3068H2563H3335H3027H3027H1004H34787At one time I will suddenly speak concerning a nation or kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it;H7281H1696H1471H4467H5428H5422H68And if [the people of] that nation concerning which I have spoken turn from their evil, I will relent {and} reverse My decision concerning the evil that I thought to do to them.H1471H1696H7725H7451H5162H7451H2803H62139At another time I will suddenly speak concerning a nation or kingdom, that I will build up and plant it;H7281H1696H1471H4467H1129H519310And if they do evil in My sight, obeying not My voice, then I will regret {and} reverse My decision concerning the good with which I said I would benefit them.H6213H7451H5869H8085H6963H5162H2896H559H319011Now therefore say to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Return now each one from his evil way; reform your [accustomed] ways {and} make your [individual] actions good {and} right.H559H376H3063H3427H3389H559H559H3068H3335H7451H2803H4284H7725H376H7451H1870H1870H4611H319012But they will say, That is in vain! For we will walk after our own devices, and we will each do as the stubbornness of his own evil heart dictates.H559H2976H3212H310H4284H376H6213H8307H7451H382013Therefore thus says the Lord: Ask now among the nations: Who has heard such things? Virgin Israel has done a very vile {and} horrible thing.H559H3068H7592H1471H8085H1330H3478H6213H3966H818614Will the snow of Mount Lebanon fail {and} vanish from its rocks [which tower above the land of Israel]? Will the cold, rushing waters of strange lands [that dash down from afar] be dried up?H5800H7950H3844H6697H7704H7119H5140H4325H2114H542815Yet My people have forgotten Me; they burn incense to false gods, they have been caused to stumble in their ways and in the ancient roads, to walk in bypaths, in a way not graded {and} built up [not on a highway],H5971H7911H6999H7723H3782H1870H5769H7635H7635H3212H5410H1870H554916Making their land a desolation {and} a horror, a thing to be hissed at perpetually; everyone who passes by shall be astounded {and} horrified and shake his head.H7760H776H8047H5769H8292H8292H5674H8074H5110H721817I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity [says the Lord].H6327H6921H7307H6440H341H7200H6203H6440H3117H34318Then [my enemies] said, Come and let us devise schemes against Jeremiah; for the law [of Moses] shall not perish from the priest [as this false prophet Jeremiah predicts], nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us smite him with the tongue [making a charge against him to the king], and let us not pay any attention to his words.H559H3212H2803H4284H3414H8451H6H3548H6098H2450H1697H5030H3212H5221H3956H7181H169719Give heed to me, Lord; listen to [what] my adversaries [are plotting to do to me--and intercede].H7181H3068H8085H6963H340120Shall evil be recompensed for good? Yet they have dug a pit for my life. [Earnestly] remember that I stood before You to speak good for them, to turn away Your anger from them.H7451H7999H2896H3738H7745H5315H2142H5975H6440H1696H2896H7725H253421Therefore deliver up their children to the famine; give them over to the power of the sword. And let their wives become childless and widows; let their men meet death by pestilence, their young men be slain by the sword in battle.H5414H1121H7458H5064H3027H2719H802H7909H490H582H2026H4194H970H5221H2719H442122Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring a troop upon them, for they have dug a pit to take me and have hidden snares for my feet.H2201H8085H1004H935H1416H6597H3738H7745H7882H3920H2934H6341H727223Yet, Lord, You know all their plotting against me to slay me. Forgive not their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from Your sight. But let them be overthrown before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger.H3068H3045H6098H4194H3722H5771H4229H2403H6440H3782H6440H6213H6256H639