Jeremiah 18 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

The Potter and the Clay

The Lesson from the Potter

Jer 18:1

Jer 18:1The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying:

Jer 18:2

Jer 18:2“Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.”

Jer 18:3

Jer 18:3Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.

Jer 18:4

Jer 18:4And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

Jer 18:5

Jer 18:5Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

Jer 18:6

Jer 18:6“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!

Jer 18:7

Jer 18:7“The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it,

Jer 18:8

Jer 18:8“if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.

Jer 18:9

Jer 18:9“And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it,

Jer 18:10

Jer 18:10“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.

Jer 18:11

Jer 18:11“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. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.” ’ ”

God’s Warning Rejected

Jer 18:12

Jer 18:12And they said, “That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates of his evil heart.”

Jer 18:13

Jer 18:13Therefore thus says the LORD:

“Ask now among the Gentiles,
Who has heard such things?
The virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.

Jer 18:14

Jer 18:14Will a man leave the snow water of Lebanon,
Which comes from the rock of the field?
Will the cold flowing waters be forsaken for strange waters?

Jer 18:15

Jer 18:15“Because My people have forgotten Me,
They have burned incense to worthless idols.
And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways,
From the ancient paths,
To walk in pathways and not on a highway,

Jer 18:16

Jer 18:16To make their land desolate and a perpetual hissing;
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished
And shake his head.

Jer 18:17

Jer 18:17I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy;
I will show them[fn] the back and not the face
In the day of their calamity.”

Jeremiah Persecuted

Jer 18:18

Jer 18:18Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; 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.”

Jer 18:19

Jer 18:19Give heed to me, O LORD,
And listen to the voice of those who contend with me!

Jer 18:20

Jer 18:20Shall evil be repaid for good?
For they have dug a pit for my life.
Remember that I stood before You
To speak good for them,
To turn away Your wrath from them.

Jer 18:21

Jer 18:21Therefore deliver up their children to the famine,
And pour out their blood
By the force of the sword;
Let their wives become widows
And bereaved of their children.
Let their men be put to death,
Their young men be slain
By the sword in battle.

Jer 18:22

Jer 18:22Let 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.

Jer 18:23

Jer 18:23Yet, LORD, You know all their counsel
Which is against me, to slay me.
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 anger.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(18:17)

Following Septuagint, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate; Masoretic Text reads look them in.

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) appearing on or deriving from this or any other web page is for personal use only. Any other use of the NKJV must be in conformity with the Quotation Policy for the New King James Version. For more information about the New King James Version, the Quotation Policy, and for inquiries about permission to use the New King James Version, go to Thomas Nelson, Inc..

For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.

Jeremiah Chapter 18 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New Living Translation New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Jeremiah 18 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

NKJV Footnotes

Jeremiah Chapter 18 — Additional Translations:

Did You Know BLB Is User Supported?