1This 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.”

3So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.

4But 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.

5Then the word of the Lord came to me.

6He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

7If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed,

8and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.

9And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted,

10and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

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 for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’

12But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’ ”

13Therefore this is what the Lord says:

18They said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.”