1-2. God told Jeremiah, “Up on your feet! Go to the potter’s house. When you get there, I’ll tell you what I have to say.”
11. “So, tell the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem my Message: ‘Danger! I’m shaping doom against you, laying plans against you. Turn back from your doomed way of life. Straighten out your lives.’
12. “But they’ll just say, ‘Why should we? What’s the point? We’ll live just the way we’ve always lived, doom or no doom.’”
13-17. God’s Message:“Ask around.Survey the godless nations.Has anyone heard the likes of this?Virgin Israel has become a slut!Does snow disappear from the Lebanon peaks?Do alpine streams run dry?But my people have left meto worship the Big Lie.They’ve gotten off the track,the old, well-worn trail,And now bushwhack through underbrushin a tangle of roots and vines.Their land’s going to end up a mess—a fool’s memorial to be spit on.Travelers passing throughwill shake their heads in disbelief.I’ll scatter my people before their enemies,like autumn leaves in a high wind.On their day of doom, they’ll stare at my back as I walk away,catching not so much as a glimpse of my face.”
18. Some of the people said, “Come on, let’s cook up a plot against Jeremiah. We’ll still have the priests to teach us the law, wise counselors to give us advice, and prophets to tell us what God has to say. Come on, let’s discredit him so we don’t have to put up with him any longer.”