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Jeremiah 18-20
New King James Version
Jeremiah 18-20
New King James Version
The Potter and the Clay
18 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the [a]wheel. 4 And the vessel that he [b]made of clay was [c]marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 6 “O house of Israel, (A)can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, (B)as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! 7 The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to (C)pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, 8 (D)if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, (E)I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. 9 And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, 10 if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.
11 “Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. (F)Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings (G)good.” ’ ”
God’s Warning Rejected
12 And they said, (H)“That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one [d]obey the (I)dictates[e] of his evil heart.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord:
(J)“Ask now among the Gentiles,
Who has heard such things?
The virgin of Israel has done (K)a very horrible thing.
14 Will a man [f]leave the snow water of Lebanon,
Which comes from the rock of the field?
Will the cold flowing waters be forsaken for strange waters?
15 “Because My people have forgotten (L)Me,
They have burned incense to worthless idols.
And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways,
From the (M)ancient paths,
To walk in pathways and not on a highway,
16 To make their land (N)desolate and a perpetual (O)hissing;
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished
And shake his head.
17 (P)I will scatter them (Q)as with an east wind before the enemy;
(R)I will [g]show them the back and not the face
In the day of their calamity.”
Jeremiah Persecuted
18 Then they said, (S)“Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; (T)for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
19 Give heed to me, O Lord,
And listen to the voice of those who contend with me!
20 (U)Shall evil be repaid for good?
For they have (V)dug a pit for my life.
Remember that I (W)stood before You
To speak good [h]for them,
To turn away Your wrath from them.
21 Therefore (X)deliver up their children to the famine,
And pour out their blood
By the force of the sword;
Let their wives become widows
And (Y)bereaved of their children.
Let their men be put to death,
Their young men be slain
By the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses,
When You bring a troop suddenly upon them;
For they have dug a pit to take me,
And hidden snares for my feet.
23 Yet, Lord, You know all their counsel
Which is against me, to slay me.
(Z)Provide no atonement for their iniquity,
Nor blot out their sin from Your sight;
But let them be overthrown before You.
Deal thus with them
In the time of Your (AA)anger.
The Sign of the Broken Flask
19 Thus says the Lord: “Go and get a potter’s earthen flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. 2 And go out to (AB)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I will tell you, 3 (AC)and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will (AD)tingle.
4 “Because they (AE)have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with (AF)the blood of the innocents 5 (AG)(they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, (AH)which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind), 6 therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that this place shall no more be called Tophet or (AI)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, (AJ)and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives; their (AK)corpses I will give as meat for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. 8 I will make this city (AL)desolate and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. 9 And I will cause them to eat the (AM)flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the desperation with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall drive them to despair.” ’
10 (AN)“Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: (AO)“Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot be [i]made whole again; and they shall (AP)bury them in Tophet till there is no place to bury. 12 Thus I will do to this place,” says the Lord, “and to its inhabitants, and make this city like Tophet. 13 And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled (AQ)like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose (AR)roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and (AS)poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”
14 Then Jeremiah came from Tophet, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in (AT)the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, 15 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on this city and on all her towns all the doom that I have pronounced against it, because (AU)they have stiffened their necks that they might not hear My words.’ ”
The Word of God to Pashhur
20 Now (AV)Pashhur the son of (AW)Immer, the priest who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. 2 Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high (AX)gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord.
3 And it happened on the next day that Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord has not called your name Pashhur, but [j]Magor-Missabib. 4 For thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it. I will (AY)give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon and slay them with the sword. 5 Moreover I (AZ)will deliver all the wealth of this city, all its produce, and all its precious things; all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give into the hand of their enemies, who will plunder them, seize them, and (BA)carry them to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. You shall go to Babylon, and there you shall die, and be buried there, you and all your friends, to whom you have (BB)prophesied lies.’ ”
Jeremiah’s Unpopular Ministry
7 O Lord, You [k]induced me, and I was persuaded;
(BC)You are stronger than I, and have prevailed.
(BD)I am [l]in derision daily;
Everyone mocks me.
8 For when I spoke, I cried out;
(BE)I shouted, “Violence and plunder!”
Because the word of the Lord was made to me
A reproach and a derision daily.
9 Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him,
Nor speak anymore in His name.”
But His word was in my heart like a (BF)burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back,
And (BG)I could not.
10 (BH)For I heard many [m]mocking:
“Fear on every side!”
“Report,” they say, “and we will report it!”
(BI)All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying,
“Perhaps he can be induced;
Then we will prevail against him,
And we will take our revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is (BJ)with me as a mighty, awesome One.
Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not (BK)prevail.
They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper.
Their (BL)everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.
12 But, O Lord of hosts,
You who (BM)test the righteous,
And see the [n]mind and heart,
(BN)Let me see Your vengeance on them;
For I have pleaded my cause before You.
13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
For (BO)He has delivered the life of the poor
From the hand of evildoers.
14 (BP)Cursed be the day in which I was born!
Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
15 Let the man be cursed
Who brought news to my father, saying,
“A male child has been born to you!”
Making him very glad.
16 And let that man be like the cities
Which the Lord (BQ)overthrew, and did not relent;
Let him (BR)hear the cry in the morning
And the shouting at noon,
17 (BS)Because he did not kill me from the womb,
That my mother might have been my grave,
And her womb always enlarged with me.
18 (BT)Why did I come forth from the womb to (BU)see [o]labor and sorrow,
That my days should be consumed with shame?
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 18:3 Potter’s wheel
- Jeremiah 18:4 was making
- Jeremiah 18:4 ruined
- Jeremiah 18:12 Lit. do
- Jeremiah 18:12 stubbornness or imagination
- Jeremiah 18:14 forsake
- Jeremiah 18:17 So with LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; MT look them in
- Jeremiah 18:20 concerning
- Jeremiah 19:11 restored
- Jeremiah 20:3 Lit. Fear on Every Side
- Jeremiah 20:7 enticed or persuaded
- Jeremiah 20:7 Lit. a laughingstock all the day
- Jeremiah 20:10 slandering
- Jeremiah 20:12 Most secret parts, lit. kidneys
- Jeremiah 20:18 toil
Jeremiah 18-20
New International Version
Jeremiah 18-20
New International Version
At the Potter’s House
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay(A) in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,(B) Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted,(C) torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent(D) and not inflict on it the disaster(E) I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built(F) up and planted, 10 and if it does evil(G) in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider(H) the good I had intended to do for it.(I)
11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster(J) for you and devising a plan(K) against you. So turn(L) from your evil ways,(M) each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’(N) 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use.(O) We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.(P)’”
13 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“Inquire among the nations:
Who has ever heard anything like this?(Q)
A most horrible(R) thing has been done
by Virgin(S) Israel.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon
ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
Do its cool waters from distant sources
ever stop flowing?[a]
15 Yet my people have forgotten(T) me;
they burn incense(U) to worthless idols,(V)
which made them stumble(W) in their ways,
in the ancient paths.(X)
They made them walk in byways,
on roads not built up.(Y)
16 Their land will be an object of horror(Z)
and of lasting scorn;(AA)
all who pass by will be appalled(AB)
and will shake their heads.(AC)
17 Like a wind(AD) from the east,
I will scatter them before their enemies;
I will show them my back and not my face(AE)
in the day of their disaster.”
18 They said, “Come, let’s make plans(AF) against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest(AG) will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise,(AH) nor the word from the prophets.(AI) So come, let’s attack him with our tongues(AJ) and pay no attention to anything he says.”
19 Listen to me, Lord;
hear what my accusers(AK) are saying!
20 Should good be repaid with evil?(AL)
Yet they have dug a pit(AM) for me.
Remember that I stood(AN) before you
and spoke in their behalf(AO)
to turn your wrath away from them.
21 So give their children over to famine;(AP)
hand them over to the power of the sword.(AQ)
Let their wives be made childless and widows;(AR)
let their men be put to death,
their young men(AS) slain by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry(AT) be heard from their houses
when you suddenly bring invaders against them,
for they have dug a pit(AU) to capture me
and have hidden snares(AV) for my feet.
23 But you, Lord, know
all their plots to kill(AW) me.
Do not forgive(AX) their crimes
or blot out their sins from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.(AY)
19 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.(AZ) Take along some of the elders(BA) of the people and of the priests 2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom,(BB) near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, 3 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings(BC) of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster(BD) on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.(BE) 4 For they have forsaken(BF) me and made this a place of foreign gods(BG); they have burned incense(BH) in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.(BI) 5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children(BJ) in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.(BK) 6 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth(BL) or the Valley of Ben Hinnom,(BM) but the Valley of Slaughter.(BN)
7 “‘In this place I will ruin[b] the plans(BO) of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies,(BP) at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses(BQ) as food(BR) to the birds and the wild animals. 8 I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn;(BS) all who pass by will be appalled(BT) and will scoff because of all its wounds.(BU) 9 I will make them eat(BV) the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies(BW) will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’
10 “Then break the jar(BX) while those who go with you are watching, 11 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash(BY) this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury(BZ) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 12 This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. 13 The houses(CA) in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled(CB) like this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs(CC) to all the starry hosts(CD) and poured out drink offerings(CE) to other gods.’”
14 Jeremiah then returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court(CF) of the Lord’s temple and said to all the people, 15 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster(CG) I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked(CH) and would not listen(CI) to my words.’”
Jeremiah and Pashhur
20 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer,(CJ) the official(CK) in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten(CL) and put in the stocks(CM) at the Upper Gate of Benjamin(CN) at the Lord’s temple. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name(CO) for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side.(CP) 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes(CQ) you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give(CR) all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry(CS) them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. 5 I will deliver all the wealth(CT) of this city into the hands of their enemies—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away(CU) as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied(CV) lies.’”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
7 You deceived[c](CW) me, Lord, and I was deceived[d];
you overpowered(CX) me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed(CY) all day long;
everyone mocks(CZ) me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.(DA)
So the word of the Lord has brought me
insult and reproach(DB) all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”(DC)
his word is in my heart like a fire,(DD)
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;(DE)
indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many whispering,
“Terror(DF) on every side!
Denounce(DG) him! Let’s denounce him!”
All my friends(DH)
are waiting for me to slip,(DI) saying,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail(DJ) over him
and take our revenge(DK) on him.”
11 But the Lord(DL) is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors(DM) will stumble and not prevail.(DN)
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;(DO)
their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,(DP)
let me see your vengeance(DQ) on them,
for to you I have committed(DR) my cause.
13 Sing(DS) to the Lord!
Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues(DT) the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.(DU)
14 Cursed be the day I was born!(DV)
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
who made him very glad, saying,
“A child is born to you—a son!”
16 May that man be like the towns(DW)
the Lord overthrew without pity.
May he hear wailing(DX) in the morning,
a battle cry at noon.
17 For he did not kill me in the womb,(DY)
with my mother as my grave,
her womb enlarged forever.
18 Why did I ever come out of the womb(DZ)
to see trouble(EA) and sorrow
and to end my days in shame?(EB)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 18:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
- Jeremiah 19:7 The Hebrew for ruin sounds like the Hebrew for jar (see verses 1 and 10).
- Jeremiah 20:7 Or persuaded
- Jeremiah 20:7 Or persuaded
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.