Jeremiah 18

haddavar asher hayah el-yirmeyahu me'et Adonai lemor

The word that came to Jeremiah from GOD:

qum veyaradta bet hayyotser veshammah ashmi'akha et-devaray

“Go down to the house of a potter, and there I will impart My words to you.”

va'ered bet hayyotser (vhnhv) [vehinneh-hu] oseh melakhah al-ha'ovnayim

So I went down to the house of a potter, and found him working at the wheel.

venishkhat hakkeli asher hu oseh bakhomer beyad hayyotser veshav vayya'asehu keli akher ka'asher yashar be'ene hayyotser la'asot

And if the vessel he was making was spoiled, as happens to clay in the potter’s hands, he would make it into another vessel, such as the potter saw fit to make.

vayehi devar-Adonai elay lemor

Then the word of GOD came to me:

hakhayyotser hazzeh lo-ukhal la'asot lakhem bet yisra'el ne'um-Adonai hinneh khakhomer beyad hayyotser ken-attem beyadi bet yisra'el

O House of Israel, can I not deal with you like this potter?—says GOD. Just like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hands, O House of Israel!

rega adabber al-goy ve'al-mamlakhah lintosh velintots uleha'avid

At one moment I may decree that a nation or a kingdom shall be uprooted and pulled down and destroyed;

veshav haggoy hahu mera'ato asher dibbarti alayw venikhamti al-hara'ah asher khashavti la'asot lo

but if that nation against which I made the decree turns back from its wickedness, I change My mind concerning the punishment I planned to bring on it.

verega adabber al-goy ve'al-mamlakhah livnot velintoa

At another moment I may decree that a nation or a kingdom shall be built and planted;

ve'asah (hrh) [hara] be'enay levilti shemoa beqoli venikhamti al-hattovah asher amarti lehetiv oto

but if it does what is displeasing to Me and does not obey Me, then I change My mind concerning the good I planned to bestow upon it.

ve'attah emor-na el-ish-yehudah ve'al-yosheve yerushalai͏m lemor koh amar Adonai hinneh anokhi yotser alekhem ra'ah vekhoshev alekhem makhashavah shuvu na ish middarko hara'ah vehetivu darkhekhem uma'allekhem

And now, say to the citizenry of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus said GOD: I am devising disaster for you and laying plans against you. Turn back, each of you, from your wicked ways, and mend your ways and your actions!

ve'ameru no'ash ki-akhare makhshevotenu nelekh ve'ish sherirut libbo-hara na'aseh

But they will say, “It is no use. We will keep on following our own plans; each of us will act in the willfulness of our own evil heart.”

lakhen koh amar Adonai sha'alu-na baggoyim mi shama ka'elleh sha'arurit asetah me'od betulat yisra'el

Assuredly, thus said GOD: Inquire among the nations: Who has heard anything like this? Maiden Israel has done A most horrible thing.

haya'azov mitsur saday sheleg levanon im-yinnateshu mayim zarim qarim nozelim

Does one forsake Lebanon snow From the mountainous rocks? Does one abandon cool water Flowing from afar?

ki-shekhekhuni ammi lashav yeqatteru vayyakhshilum bedarkhehem shevile olam lalekhet netivot derekh lo selulah

Yet My people have forgotten Me: They sacrifice to a delusion: They are made to stumble in their ways— The ancient paths— And to walk instead on byways, On a road not built up.

lasum artsam leshammah (shrvqt) [sheriqot] olam kol over aleha yishom veyanid berosho

So their land will become a desolation, An object of hissing for all time. Every passerby will be appalled And will shake their head.

keruakh-qadim afitsem lifne oyev oref velo-fanim erem beyom edam

Like the east wind, I will scatter them Before the enemy. I will look upon their back, not their face, In their day of disaster.

vayyomeru lekhu venakhshevah al-yirmeyahu makhashavot ki lo-tovad torah mikkohen ve'etsah mekhakham vedavar minnavi lekhu venakkehu vallashon ve'al-naqshivah el-kol-devarayw

They said, “Come let us devise a plot against Jeremiah—for instruction shall not fail from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor oracle from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and we shall no longer have to listen to all those words of his.”

haqshivah Adonai elay ushema leqol yerivay

Listen to me, O ETERNAL One— And take note of what my enemies say!

hayeshullam takhat-tovah ra'ah ki-kharu shukhah lenafshi zekhor omdi lefanekha ledabber alehem tovah lehashiv et-khamatekha mehem

Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You To plead in their behalf, To turn Your anger away from them!

lakhen ten et-benehem lara'av vehaggirem al-yede-kherev vetihyenah neshehem shakkulot ve'almanot ve'anshehem yihyu haruge mavet bakhurehem mukke-kherev bammilkhamah

Oh, give their children over to famine, Mow them down by the sword. Let their wives be bereaved Of children and husbands, Let their men be struck down by the plague, And their young men be slain in battle by the sword.

tishama ze'aqah mibbattehem ki-tavi alehem gedud pitom ki-kharu (shykhh) [shukhah] lelokhdeni ufakhim tamenu leraglay

Let an outcry be heard from their houses When You bring sudden marauders against them; For they have dug a pit to trap me, And laid snares for my feet.

ve'attah Adonai yadata et-kol-atsatam alay lammavet al-tekhapper al-avonam vekhattatam millefanekha al-temkhi (vhyv) [veyihyu] mukhshalim lefanekha be'et appekha aseh vahem

O ETERNAL One, You know All their plots to kill me. Do not pardon their iniquity, Do not blot out their guilt from Your presence. Let them be made to stumble before You— Act against them in Your hour of wrath!