American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
Jeremiah 18
1
The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2
Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words.
Reference
Parallel theme
Hebrews 1:1
3
Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he worked a work on the wheels.
4
And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Reference
5
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6
O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? said the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 45:9
Jeremiah 18:4
Matthew 20:15
Daniel 4:23
References Lord
Isaiah 64:8
Romans 11:34
7
At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
Reference
8
If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them.
Reference
9
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
Reference
10
If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, with which I said I would benefit them.
Reference
Evil
Ezekiel 18:24
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 33:18
1 Samuel 2:30
1 Samuel 13:13
Psalm 125:5
Numbers 14:22
Zephaniah 1:6
Repentance
1 Samuel 15:11
1 Samuel 15:35
11
Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus said the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return you now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
Reference
Evil
2 Kings 17:13
Jeremiah 35:15
Jeremiah 25:5
Micah 2:3
Parallel theme
James 5:1
Isaiah 5:5
References Jerusalem
Acts 26:20
References Lord
Jeremiah 7:3
Zechariah 1:3
12
And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.
Reference
Evil
Jeremiah 7:24
Jeremiah 16:12
Jeremiah 3:17
Hope
Jeremiah 2:25
Isaiah 57:10
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 29:19
Luke 1:51
13
Therefore thus said the LORD; Ask you now among the heathen, who has heard such things: the virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.
Reference
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 5:30
Isaiah 66:8
Jeremiah 23:14
Jeremiah 14:17
References Israel
Hosea 6:10
Jeremiah 31:4
14
Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which comes from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
Reference
Parallel theme
John 6:68
15
Because my people has forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
Reference
16
To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passes thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
Reference
17
I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
Reference
18
Then said they, Come and let us devise devices 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 smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
Reference
20
Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have dig a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before you to speak good for them, and to turn away your wrath from them.
Reference
Evil
Psalm 35:12
Psalm 119:95
Judgment
Psalm 106:23
Parallel theme
Psalm 35:7
Psalm 57:6
Proverbs 26:27
Jeremiah 18:22
Ecclesiastes 10:8
21
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.
Reference
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 9:21
Jeremiah 15:8
Lamentations 5:3
Word
Exodus 22:24
Deuteronomy 32:25
Amos 4:10
22
Let a cry be heard from their houses, when you shall bring a troop suddenly on them: for they have dig a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
Reference
Summary of Jeremiah 18
Jeremiah 18 presents one of Scripture's clearest pictures of God as a potter and His people as clay, beginning with Jeremiah watching a potter reshape a damaged vessel and then explaining that God has similar authority over Judah and the nations, meaning that His announced judgment is not simply an unchangeable sentence but a warning that can lead to mercy when people genuinely abandon their evil ways.
The central lesson is that God's sovereignty and human responsibility operate together: God has authority to tear down or build up nations, yet He responds to their moral choices, so a nation threatened with destruction can still experience mercy if it repents, while a nation promised blessing can lose that blessing if it deliberately turns away from Him.
Judah, however, refuses this opportunity, declaring that it will continue following its own plans, and Jeremiah emphasizes how unnatural this rebellion has become by comparing it with dependable features of creation, because just as mountain snow and flowing streams remain recognizable and reliable, Judah has abandoned the One who should have been its constant source of life and replaced Him with worthless idols.
As a result, Jeremiah announces that the land will become desolate and that the people will be scattered before their enemies, while the prophet himself becomes the target of a conspiracy because influential people would rather listen to priests, advisers, and favorable prophets than accept Jeremiah's difficult warning about coming judgment.
The chapter therefore moves from the potter's workshop to the battlefield and from God's patience to Judah's resistance, showing that the same God who has the authority to reshape His people is also willing to allow the consequences of their choices when they stubbornly refuse correction, while Jeremiah's final prayer reveals how deeply personal the conflict has become as he asks God to defend him against those who repay his attempts to help them with hostility and plans to destroy him.
The central lesson is that God's sovereignty and human responsibility operate together: God has authority to tear down or build up nations, yet He responds to their moral choices, so a nation threatened with destruction can still experience mercy if it repents, while a nation promised blessing can lose that blessing if it deliberately turns away from Him.
Judah, however, refuses this opportunity, declaring that it will continue following its own plans, and Jeremiah emphasizes how unnatural this rebellion has become by comparing it with dependable features of creation, because just as mountain snow and flowing streams remain recognizable and reliable, Judah has abandoned the One who should have been its constant source of life and replaced Him with worthless idols.
As a result, Jeremiah announces that the land will become desolate and that the people will be scattered before their enemies, while the prophet himself becomes the target of a conspiracy because influential people would rather listen to priests, advisers, and favorable prophets than accept Jeremiah's difficult warning about coming judgment.
The chapter therefore moves from the potter's workshop to the battlefield and from God's patience to Judah's resistance, showing that the same God who has the authority to reshape His people is also willing to allow the consequences of their choices when they stubbornly refuse correction, while Jeremiah's final prayer reveals how deeply personal the conflict has become as he asks God to defend him against those who repay his attempts to help them with hostility and plans to destroy him.