1 A word came to Jeremiah from the LORD {YHWH, Message Source}, saying {le’emor: formula introducing prophetic speech}.
2 Stand up, and go down to the potter’s workshop, and there I {YHWH, Divine Summoner} will cause you to hear my words {devarai: spoken message}.
3 So I went down to the potter’s house {bayit: workshop}, and look—he was working at the wheels {avnayim: double stone discs}.
4 And the vessel{keli: clay container} he was making from the clay in the hand of the potter{hayotser: craftsman shaping clay} was ruined, so he reworked it and made it into another vessel as seemed right in the eyes of the potter to make.
5 Then a word from the LORD {YHWH, Message Giver} came to me, saying {le’emor: speech formula},
6 “House of Israel, am I not able to deal with you like this potter?” declares the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Shaper}. “Look—like the clay {chomer: moldable material} in the hand of the potter, so you are in My hand, house of Israel.”
7 At the moment {regaʿ: decisive instant} I {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to uproot, to pull down, and to destroy it.
8 And if that nation turns from its evil {ra’ah: moral wrongdoing}, which I have spoken concerning it, then I will relent {nikhamti: change My declared course} concerning the evil which I intended to do to it.
9 And at an instant I {YHWH, Sovereign Restorer} speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build {livnot: cause to arise} and to plant it.
10 If it does evil in My {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} eyes and will not listen to My voice, then I will relent {venichamti: reverse course} concerning the good that I said I would do for it.
11 Now, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, “Thus says the LORD {YHWH, Divine Judge}: Look, I am forming evil against you and planning a scheme against you. Return now, each one from his evil way, and make your ways {darkheikhem: life paths} and your deeds good.”
12 But they said, "There is no hope; for we will follow our own plans {machshevoteinu: deliberate designs}, and each man will do the stubbornness {sherirut: willful obstinacy} of his evil heart."
13 Therefore, thus says the LORD {YHWH, Supreme Judge}: “Ask among the nations, ‘Who has ever heard anything like this?’ The virgin of Israel has done a horrible thing {sha’arurit: Astonishing Outrage}, exceedingly so.”
14 Does the snow {sheleg: winter precipitation} of Lebanon ever leave the rock {mitsur: enduring stronghold} of the field, or are cold flowing waters from a foreign place ever forsaken?
15 Because My people have forgotten Me {YHWH, Abandoned Guide}, they burn incense to emptiness {shav: futility} and have caused them to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths—to walk in byways on a road not built up.
16 In this way their land will become a desolation {shamāh: utter ruin} and an object of perpetual hissing {sherikot: contemptuous sound of scorn}; all who pass by will be appalled and will wag their heads.
17 Like an east wind I {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} will scatter them before the enemy; in the day of their calamity {edam: ruinous disaster} I will show them My back and not My face.
18 Then they declared, “Come; let us devise plans {machashavot: deliberate schemes} against Jeremiah, for instruction will not vanish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor word from the prophet. Come; let us strike him with the tongue {lashon: verbal slander}, and give no heed to any of his words.”
19 Give attention, O LORD {YHWH, Prayer Hearer}, to me, and listen to the voice of my adversaries {yerivai: those who contend}.
20 Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit {shuchah: hidden trap} for my soul. Remember that I stood before You {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} to speak good concerning them, to turn away Your wrath from them.
21 Therefore, give their sons to the famine {raav: severe hunger}, and hand them over to the power of the sword; let their women be bereaved and become widows {almanot: bereft wives}, and let their men be slain by death; let their young men be struck by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses when You {YHWH, Righteous Judge} bring a troop {gedud: raiding band} upon them suddenly, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.
23 But You, LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}, know all their designs against me for death; do not forgive their iniquity {avonam: guilt} and do not blot out their sin from before You. Let them be overthrown before You; at the time of Your wrath, bring judgment upon them.