Welcome to our website where we explore the Bible! Pleasure to meet you here!
May your journey into the world of the Holy Scriptures be engaging and inspiring!
You can change reading language: uk ru
Parallel
New Living Translation
English Standard Version
The Potter and the Clay
The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,
The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,
The Potter and the Clay
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
“Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.”
So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel.
So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel.
But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.
And 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.
“O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.
“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.
If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed,
If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it,
but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned.
and 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.
And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom,
And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it,
but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.
and 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.
“Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’”
Now, 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.’
But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.”
“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.’
So this is what the LORD says:
“Has anyone ever heard of such a thing,
even among the pagan nations?
My virgin daughter Israel
has done something terrible!
“Has anyone ever heard of such a thing,
even among the pagan nations?
My virgin daughter Israel
has done something terrible!
“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.
Ask among the nations,
Who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel
has done a very horrible thing.
Does the snow ever disappear from the mountaintops of Lebanon?
Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever run dry?
Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever run dry?
But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me;
they burn incense to worthless idols.
They have stumbled off the ancient highways
and walk in muddy paths.
they burn incense to worthless idols.
They have stumbled off the ancient highways
and walk in muddy paths.
But 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,
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,
Therefore, their land will become desolate,
a monument to their stupidity.
All who pass by will be astonished
and will shake their heads in amazement.
a monument to their stupidity.
All who pass by will be astonished
and will shake their heads in amazement.
making their land a horror,
a thing to be hissed at forever.
Everyone who passes by it is horrified
and shakes his head.
a thing to be hissed at forever.
Everyone who passes by it is horrified
and shakes his head.
I will scatter my people before their enemies
as the east wind scatters dust.
And in all their trouble I will turn my back on them
and refuse to notice their distress.”
as the east wind scatters dust.
And in all their trouble I will turn my back on them
and refuse to notice their distress.”
Like 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.”
before the enemy.
I will show them my back, not my face,
in the day of their calamity.”
A Plot against Jeremiah
Then the people said, “Come on, let’s plot a way to stop Jeremiah. We have plenty of priests and wise men and prophets. We don’t need him to teach the word and give us advice and prophecies. Let’s spread rumors about him and ignore what he says.”
Then 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.”
LORD, hear me and help me!
Listen to what my enemies are saying.
Listen to what my enemies are saying.
Hear me, O Lord,
and listen to the voice of my adversaries.
and listen to the voice of my adversaries.
Should they repay evil for good?
They have dug a pit to kill me,
though I pleaded for them
and tried to protect them from your anger.
They have dug a pit to kill me,
though I pleaded for them
and tried to protect them from your anger.
Should 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.
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.
So let their children starve!
Let them die by the sword!
Let their wives become childless widows.
Let their old men die in a plague,
and let their young men be killed in battle!
Let them die by the sword!
Let their wives become childless widows.
Let their old men die in a plague,
and let their young men be killed in battle!
Therefore 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.
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.
Let screaming be heard from their homes
as warriors come suddenly upon them.
For they have dug a pit for me
and have hidden traps along my path.
as warriors come suddenly upon them.
For they have dug a pit for me
and have hidden traps along my path.
May 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.
when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them!
For they have dug a pit to take me
and laid snares for my feet.
LORD, you know all about their murderous plots against me.
Don’t forgive their crimes and blot out their sins.
Let them die before you.
Deal with them in your anger.
Don’t forgive their crimes and blot out their sins.
Let them die before you.
Deal with them in your anger.
Yet 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.
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.