Passage

Jeremiah 18.1-11

Book: Jeremiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, 2. Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels. 4. And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5. Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, 6. O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel. 7. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it; 8. if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. 9. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10. if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. 11. Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings."

"12. But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart. 13. Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ask ye now among the nations, who hath heard such things; the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing." (Jeremiah 18:1-13, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 2. “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear my words.” 3. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was making a work on the wheels. 4. When the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5. Then Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 6. “House of Israel, can’t I do with you as this potter?” says Yahweh. “Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel. 7. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it; 8. if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them. 9. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10. if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good, with which I said I would benefit them. 11. “Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Yahweh says: “Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you. Everyone return from his evil way now, and amend your ways and your doings.”’"

"12. But they say, ‘It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do everyone after the stubbornness of his evil heart.’” 13. Therefore Yahweh says: “Ask now among the nations, who has heard such things. The virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing." (Jeremiah 18:1-13, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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 thee to hear my words. 3. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. ^{wheels: or, frames, or, seats} 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. ^{of clay: or, was marred, as clay in the hand of the potter} ^{made it: Heb. returned and made, etc} 5. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6. O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 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; 8. If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. 9. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10. If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. 11. Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good."

"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. 13. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing." (Jeremiah 18:1-13, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, 2. Rise, and thou hast gone down [to] the potter's house, and there I cause thee to hear My words; 3. and I go down [to] the potter's house, and lo, he is doing a work on the stones, 4. and marred is the vessel that he is making, as clay in the hand of the potter, and he hath turned and he maketh it another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make. 5. And there is a word of Jehovah to me, saying: 6. As this potter am I not able to do to you? O house of Israel, an affirmation of Jehovah. Lo, as clay in the hand of the potter, So [are] ye in My hand, O house of Israel. 7. The moment I speak concerning a nation, And concerning a kingdom, To pluck up and to break down, and to destroy, 8. And that nation hath turned from its evil, Because I have spoken against it, Then I have repented of the evil that I thought to do to it. 9. And the moment I speak concerning a nation, And concerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant, 10. And it hath done the evil thing in Mine eyes, So as not to hearken to My voice, Then I have repented of the good That I have spoken of doing to it. 11. And now, speak, I pray thee, unto men of Judah, And against inhabitants of Jerusalem, Saying: Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am framing against you evil, And devising against you a device, Turn back, I pray you, each from his evil way And amen your ways and your doings."

"12. And they have said, It is incurable, For after our own devices we do go, And each the stubbornness of his evil heart we do. 13. Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Ask, I pray you, among the nations, Who hath heard like these? A very horrible thing hath the virgin of Israel done." (Jeremiah 18:1-13, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Hardening Pharaohs Heart Objection Defeater

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.