耶利米書 第 18 章

The word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah, saying:

Arise and go down to the house of the potter, and there you shall hear my words.

And I went down to the house of the potter, and behold, he was doing work on the stones.

And the vessel that he was making in his hands fell apart, and again he made it into another vessel, as it seemed good in his sight to make it.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Can I not do to you as this potter does, O house of Israel? Behold, as the clay of the potter, so are you in my hands.

At the end I will speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, to remove them and to destroy.

And if that nation turns from all their evils, then I will change my mind concerning the evils that I purposed to do to them.

And at the end I will speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to be built up and to be planted.

And if they do what is evil before me, so as not to listen to my voice, then I will change my mind concerning the good things that I said I would do for them.

And now say to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Behold, I am shaping evils against you and devising a device against you. Let each one turn back from his evil way, and you shall make your practices better.

But they said: We will play the man, for we will go after our own turnings away, and each one will do what pleases his own evil heart.

Therefore thus says the Lord: Ask now among the nations, who has heard such horrible things as the virgin Israel has done exceedingly?

Shall breasts fail from the rock, or snow from Lebanon? Shall water that is violently borne by the wind turn aside?

For my people have forgotten me; they burned incense to what is empty, and they shall stumble in their ways, the ancient tracks, treading paths that have no way to walk on,

so as to make their land a desolation and an everlasting hissing; all who pass through it shall be appalled and shall shake their head.

Like a scorching wind I will scatter them before the face of their enemies; I will show them the day of their destruction.

And they said: Come, let us devise a device against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us listen to all his words.

Listen to me, O Lord, and listen to the voice of my plea for justice.

Is evil repaid in return for good? For they have spoken words together against my soul, and they hid their punishment for me. Remember me standing before your face, speaking good things on their behalf, to turn away your wrath from them.

Therefore give their sons over to famine, and gather them into the hands of the sword; let their wives become childless and widows; and let their men be taken away by death, and their young men fallen by the sword in war.

Let a cry be heard in their houses; you shall bring robbers upon them suddenly, because they undertook a word to seize me and have hidden snares for me.

And you, O Lord, know all their counsel against me for death. Do not acquit their iniquities, and do not blot out their sins from before your face; let their weakness be before you; act against them in the time of your anger.