Jeremiah 18

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh as fol ows,	1 The word that came from Jeremias to the Lord, saying:
2 'Get up and make your way down to the potter's house, and there I shal tell you what I have to say.'	2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there thou shalt hear my words.
3 So I went down to the potter's house; and there he was, working at the wheel.	3 And I went down into the potter's house, and behold he was doing a work on the wheel.
4 But the vessel he was making came out wrong, as may happen with clay when a potter is at work. Sohe began again and shaped it into another vessel, as he thought fit.	4 And the vessel was broken which he was making with clay with his hands: and turning he made another vessel, as it seemed good in his eyes to make it.
5 Then the word of Yahweh came to me as follows,	5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
6 'House of Israel, can I not do to you what this potter does? Yahweh demands. Yes, like clay in thepotter's hand, so you are in mine, House of Israel.	6 Cannot I do with you as this potter, saith the Lord? behold as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
7 Sometimes I announce that I shal uproot, break down and destroy a certain nation or kingdom,	7 I will suddenly speak against a nation, and against a kingdom, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy it.
8 but should the nation I have threatened abandon its wickedness, I then change my mind about thedisaster which I had intended to inflict on it.	8 If that nation against which I have spoken, shall repent of their evil, I also will repent of the evil that I have thought to do to them.
9 Sometimes I announce that I shal build up and plant a certain nation or kingdom,	9 And I will suddenly speak of a nation and of a kingdom, to build up and plant it.
10 but should that nation do what displeases me and refuse to listen to my voice, I then change my mindabout the good which I was intending to confer on it.	10 If it shall do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice: I will repent of the good that I have spoken to do unto it.
11 So now, say this to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "Yahweh says this: Listen, Iam preparing a disaster for you, I am working out a plan against you. So now, each one of you, turn back fromyour evil ways, amend your conduct and actions."	11 Now therefore tell the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: let every man of you return from his evil way, and make ye your ways and your doings good.
12 They, however, wil say, "It is no use! We shal follow our own plans; each of us wil act on his ownwicked inclinations." '	12 And they said: We have no hopes: for we will go after our own thoughts, and we will do every one according to the perverseness of his evil heart.
13 Therefore, Yahweh says this, 'Ask, please, among the nations if anyone has heard anything like this.The Virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.	13 Therefore thus saith the Lord: Ask among the nations: Who hath heard such horrible things, as the virgin of Israel hath done to excess?
14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave the rocks of its slopes? Do the rivers of foreign lands, their coldflowing waters, ever run dry?	14 Shall now the snow of Libanus fail from the rock of the field? or can the cold waters that gush out and run down, be taken away?
15 And yet my people have forgotten me! They burn incense to a Nothing! They have been made tostumble in their ways, the ancient paths, to walk in paths, on an unmade road,	15 Because my people have forgotten me, sacrificing in vain, and stumbling in their ways, in ancient paths, to walk by them in a way not trodden:
16 to make their country an object of horror, everlastingly derided: every passer-by will be appal ed at itand shake his head.	16 That their land might be given up to desolation, and to a perpetual hissing: every one that shall pass by it, shall be astonished, and wag his head.
17 Like the east wind, I shal scatter them before the enemy. I shal show them my back, not my face, theday they are ruined.'	17 As a burning will I scatter them before the enemy: I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their destruction.
18 'Come on,' they said, 'let us concoct a plot against Jeremiah, for the Law will not perish for lack ofpriests, nor advice for lack of wise men, nor the word for lack of prophets. Come on, let us slander him and payno attention to anything he says.'	18 And they said: Come, and let us invent devices against Jeremias: for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet: come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us give no heed to all his words.
19 Pay attention to me, Yahweh, hear what my adversaries are saying.	19 Give heed to me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my adversaries.
20 Should evil be returned for good? Now they are digging a pit for me. Remember how I pleaded beforeyou and spoke good of them, to turn your retribution away from them.	20 Shall evil be rendered for good, because they have digged a pit for my soul? Remember that I have stood in thy sight, so speak good for them, and turn away thy indignation from them.
21 So, hand their sons over to famine, abandon them to the edge of the sword. Let their wives becomechildless and widowed. Let their husbands die of plague, their young men be cut down by the sword in battle.	21 Therefore deliver up their children to famine, and bring them into the hands of the sword: let their wives be bereaved of children and widows: and let their husbands be slain by death: let their young men be stabbed with the sword in battle.
22 Let cries re-echo from their houses as you bring raiders suddenly on them. For they have dug a pit tocatch me, they have laid snares to trap my feet.	22 Let a cry be heard out of their houses: for thou shalt bring the robber upon them suddenly: because they have digged a pit to take me, and have hid snares for my feet.
23 But you, Yahweh, know all about their murderous plot against me. Do not forgive their guilt, do notefface their sin from your sight. Let them be hurled down before you, deal with them while you are angry!	23 But thou, O Lord, knowest all their counsel against me unto death: forgive not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from thy sight: let them be overthrown before thy eyes, in the time of thy wrath do thou destroy them.