| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: | 1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: |
| 2“Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” | 2"Go down at once to the potter's house; there I will reveal My words to you." |
| 3So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. | 3So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, working away at the wheel. |
| 4And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. | 4But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter's hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do. |
| 5Then the word of the LORD came to me: | 5The word of the LORD came to me: |
| 6“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. | 6"House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?"--this is the LORD's declaration. "Just like clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel. |
| 7If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, | 7At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it. |
| 8and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. | 8However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it. |
| 9And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, | 9At another time I announce that I will build and plant a nation or a kingdom. |
| 10and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. | 10However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it. |
| 11Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ | 11So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem: This is what the LORD says: I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds. |
| 12“But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ | 12But they will say, 'It's hopeless. We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.'" |
| 13“Therefore thus says the LORD: Ask among the nations, Who has heard the like of this? The virgin Israel has done a very horrible thing. | 13Therefore, this is what the LORD says: Ask among the nations, Who has heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing. |
| 14Does the snow of Lebanon leave the crags of Sirion? Do the mountain waters run dry, the cold flowing streams? | 14Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave the highland crags? Or does cold water flowing from a distance ever fail? |
| 15But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway, | 15Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to false idols that make them stumble in their ways on the ancient roads and walk on new paths, not the highway. |
| 16making their land a horror, a thing to be hissed at forever. Everyone who passes by it is horrified and shakes his head. | 16They have made their land a horror, a perpetual object of scorn; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and shake his head. |
| 17Like the east wind I will scatter them before the enemy. I will show them my back, not my face, in the day of their calamity.” | 17I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face on the day of their calamity. |
| 18Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.” | 18Then certain ones said, "Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will never be lost from the priest, or counsel from the wise, or an oracle from the prophet. Come, let's denounce him and pay no attention to all his words." |
| 19Hear me, O LORD, and listen to the voice of my adversaries. | 19Pay attention to me, LORD. Hear what my opponents are saying! |
| 20Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for my life. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them. | 20Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your anger from them. |
| 21Therefore deliver up their children to famine; give them over to the power of the sword; let their wives become childless and widowed. May their men meet death by pestilence, their youths be struck down by the sword in battle. | 21Therefore, hand their children over to famine, and pour the sword's power on them. Let their wives become childless and widowed, their husbands slain by deadly disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle. |
| 22May a cry be heard from their houses, when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them! For they have dug a pit to take me and laid snares for my feet. | 22Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet. |
| 23Yet you, O LORD, know all their plotting to kill me. Forgive not their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger. | 23But You, LORD, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their guilt; do not blot out their sin before You. Let them be forced to stumble before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger. |
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