saying: 2. Arise, go down to the potter’s house; there will I make thee hear my words.

And I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he was working at the wheel.

And the pot which he made of the clay was displeasing in his hands. And he made another pot again, as it pleased him.

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

Can I not also deal with you, ye of the house of Israel, as with this potter? saith the LORD.
Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye of the house of Israel in mine hand.

Suddenly I speak against a nation and a kingdom, to roll them up, and to break them, and to destroy them.

But if he turn from his wickedness, which I speak against, then I also shall repent of the evil that I thought to do unto him.

And suddenly I speak of a nation and a kingdom, that I may build them and plant them.

But if he do evil in mine eyes, and hearken not unto my voice, then the good which I promised him to do shall repent me also.

Speak therefore unto them that are in Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am preparing evil for you, and have thoughts against you: therefore turn ye every man from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
Twelve, but they say: Nothing will come of it! We will walk after our own thoughts, and do every man according to the imagination of his evil heart.

Therefore saith the LORD, Ask ye of the heathen, who hath heard of such a thing as this, that the virgin of Israel hath done such an abominable thing?

If the snow be longer upon the stones of the field, when it snoweth from Lebanon, and the waters of the rain be not so soon as my people forget me.

They burn incense unto the gods, and make mischief in their ways for to and fro, and walk in roads not trodden,

That their land may become a desolation, and an everlasting reproach unto them: that they which pass by may be astonished, and shake their heads.

For I will scatter them before their enemies with an east wind; I will show them the back, and not the face, when they perish.

But they say: Come, and let us counsel against Jeremiah: for the priests cannot err in the law, and the wise men cannot fail in counsel, and the prophets cannot teach unrighteously. Come, and let us smite him with our tongues, and give no heed to all his words.

Take heed, O Lord, and hear the voice of mine adversaries.

Is it right to repay good with evil? For they have digged a pit in my soul. Remember how I stood before thee, and spoke their best, and turned away thine anger from them.

Now therefore punish their children with famine, and put them to the sword; that their wives may be without children, and widows; and that their husbands may be slain, and their young men slain with the sword in battle,

And a cry shall be heard out of their houses, how that thou hast suddenly sent a people of war upon them. For they have digged a pit for me, and have laid ropes for my feet.

And because thou, O LORD, knowest all their plots against me, to kill me, forgive them not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from before thee. Let them be overthrown before thee, and deal with them according to thine anger.
(Jeremiah)
Chapter 19
Destruction of Jerusalem with breaking of the earthen jar prefigured.

Thus saith the LORD; Go and buy thee an earthenware jar of the potter, and some of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests.

And go forth into the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is before the brick gate, and preach there the words which I say unto thee,

And say, Hear the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring such calamity upon this place, that whosoever shall hear it, his ears shall ring,

Because they have forsaken me, and given this place to a strange god, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, which they knew not, nor their fathers, nor the kings of Judah: and they have made this place full of innocent blood.

For they have built high places for Baal, to burn their children unto Baal for burnt offerings, which I commanded them not, neither spake I unto them, neither came it into mine heart.

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor the valley of Ben-hinnom, but the valley of choke.

For I will destroy the worship of Judah and Jerusalem of this place, and will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, under the hand of them that seek their life; and I will give their dead bodies for meat unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the earth; 8. And I will make this city desolate, and a mockery: and all that pass by shall marvel at all the plague thereof, and mock at it.

I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and of their daughters, and one shall eat another’s flesh in distress and in anguish; and they shall afflict their enemies, and them that seek their life.

And thou shalt break the pitcher before the men that went with thee.

And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; As a potter’s vessel is broken, and shall not be whole again; so will I break this people and this city, and they shall be buried in Ethiopia, because there shall be no other place to bury them.

Thus will I deal with this place, saith the LORD, and with the inhabitants thereof; and this city shall be as Topheth.

And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be as unclean as the place of Topheth, even all the houses, because they have burned incense upon the housetops unto all the host of heaven, and have offered drink offerings unto other gods.

And when Jeremiah was come again from Topheth, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy, he stood in the court of the LORD’S house, and spake unto all the people: 15. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city, and upon all the cities thereof, all the evil that I have spoken against them, because they are stiffnecked, and will not hearken unto my words;
(Jeremiah)
Chapter 20
Jeremiah proclaims captivity in Babylon, laments his ministry and birthday.

And when Pashur the son of Immer the priest, which was made ruler in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words,

And he smote Jeremiah the prophet, and cast him into the vault under the upper gate of Benjamin, which is by the house of the LORD.

And it came to pass in the morning, that Pashur drew Jeremiah out of the vault. And Jeremiah said unto him, The LORD calleth thee not Pashur, but Magur round about.

For thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will put thee and all thy friends in fear, and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies: thou shalt see it with thine eyes. And I will deliver all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; and he shall carry them away to Babylon, and slay them with the sword.

And I will deliver into the hand of their enemies all the goods of this city, and all that it hath wrought, and all the jewels, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah; and they shall spoil them, and take them, and bring them to Babylon.

And thou, Pashur, shalt go captive with all thy household, and shalt come to Babylon: there shalt thou die, and be buried with all thy friends, to whom thou preachest lies.

O Lord, thou hast persuaded me, and I have been persuaded: thou hast been too strong for me, and hast won. But I have become a mockery of it daily, and every man maketh me to scorn.

For since I spake, and cried, and preached of the plague and disturbance, the word of the LORD hath become a mockery and a derision unto me daily.

Then thought I, Well, I will remember him no more, neither will I preach in his name any more. But it was as a burning fire in my heart, shut up in my bones, that I could not bear it, and would almost have passed away.

For I hear how many reproach me, and how many affright me: Hui, sue him! We will sue him, say all my friends and fellows, if we may take advantage of him, and come to his aid, and avenge ourselves on him.

But the LORD is with me as a mighty hero: therefore shall my persecutors fall, and not prevail, but shall be greatly put to shame, because they have done so foolishly: for ever shall be their reproach, which shall not be forgotten.

And now, O LORD of hosts, which tryest the righteous, and seest the kidneys and the heart, let me see thy vengeance upon them: for I have committed my cause unto thee.

Sing unto the LORD, praise the LORD, which delivereth the life of the poor out of the hands of the wicked.

Cursed be the day wherein I was born; let the day wherein my mother bare me