18GOD told Jeremiah,H1697H3414H3068H5592"Up on your feet! Go to the potter's house. When you get there, I'll tell you what I have to say."H6965H3381H3335H1004H8085H16973So I went to the potter's house, and sure enough, the potter was there, working away at his wheel.H3381H3335H1004H2009H6213H4399H704Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot.H3627H6213H2563H7843H3027H3335H6213H7725H312H3627H5869H3474H3335H62135Then GOD's Message came to me:H1697H3068H5596"Can't I do just as this potter does, people of Israel?" GOD's Decree! "Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel.H1004H3478H3201H6213H3335H5002H3068H2563H3335H3027H3027H1004H34787At any moment I may decide to pull up a people or a country by the roots and get rid of them.H7281H1696H1471H4467H5428H5422H68But if they repent of their wicked lives, I will think twice and start over with them.H1471H1696H7725H7451H5162H7451H2803H62139At another time I might decide to plant a people or country,H7281H1696H1471H4467H1129H519310but if they don't cooperate and won't listen to me, I will think again and give up on the plans I had for them.H6213H7451H5869H8085H6963H5162H2896H559H319011"So, tell the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem my Message: 'Danger! I'm shaping doom against you, laying plans against you. Turn back from your doomed way of life. Straighten out your lives.'H559H376H3063H3427H3389H559H559H3068H3335H7451H2803H4284H7725H376H7451H1870H1870H4611H319012"But they'll just say, 'Why should we? What's the point? We'll live just the way we've always lived, doom or no doom.'"H559H2976H3212H310H4284H376H6213H8307H7451H382013GOD's Message: "Ask around. Survey the godless nations. Has anyone heard the likes of this? Virgin Israel has become a slut!H559H3068H7592H1471H8085H1330H3478H6213H3966H818614Does snow disappear from the Lebanon peaks? Do alpine streams run dry?H5800H7950H3844H6697H7704H7119H5140H4325H2114H542815But my people have left me to worship the Big Lie. They've gotten off the track, the old, well-worn trail, And now bushwhack through underbrush in a tangle of roots and vines.H5971H7911H6999H7723H3782H1870H5769H7635H7635H3212H5410H1870H554916Their land's going to end up a mess— a fool's memorial to be spit on. Travelers passing through will shake their heads in disbelief.H7760H776H8047H5769H8292H8292H5674H8074H5110H721817I'll scatter my people before their enemies, like autumn leaves in a high wind. On their day of doom, they'll stare at my back as I walk away, catching not so much as a glimpse of my face."H6327H6921H7307H6440H341H7200H6203H6440H3117H34318Some of the people said, "Come on, let's cook up a plot against Jeremiah. We'll still have the priests to teach us the law, wise counselors to give us advice, and prophets to tell us what God has to say. Come on, let's discredit him so we don't have to put up with him any longer."H559H3212H2803H4284H3414H8451H6H3548H6098H2450H1697H5030H3212H5221H3956H7181H169719And I said to GOD: "GOD, listen to me! Just listen to what my enemies are saying.H7181H3068H8085H6963H340120Should I get paid evil for good? That's what they're doing. They've made plans to kill me! Remember all the times I stood up for them before you, speaking up for them, trying to soften your anger?H7451H7999H2896H3738H7745H5315H2142H5975H6440H1696H2896H7725H253421But enough! Let their children starve! Let them be massacred in battle! Let their wives be childless and widowed, their friends die and their proud young men be killed.H5414H1121H7458H5064H3027H2719H802H7909H490H582H2026H4194H970H5221H2719H442122Let cries of panic sound from their homes as you surprise them with war parties! They're all set to lynch me. The noose is practically around my neck!H2201H8085H1004H935H1416H6597H3738H7745H7882H3920H2934H6341H727223But you know all this, GOD. You know they're determined to kill me. Don't whitewash their crimes, don't overlook a single sin! Round the bunch of them up before you. Strike while the iron of your anger is hot!"H3068H3045H6098H4194H3722H5771H4229H2403H6440H3782H6440H6213H6256H639
Dublin, OH
