The Hebrew Prophets

But they did not hear, nor incline their ear: but hardened their neck, that they might not hear me, and might not receive instruction.

And it shall come to pass: if you will hearken to me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burdens by the gates of this city on the sabbath day: and if you will sanctify the sabbath day, to do no work therein:

Then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes, sitting upon the throne of David, and riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall be inhabited for ever.

And they shall come from the cities of Juda, and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plains, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing holocausts, and victims, and sacrifices, and frankincense, and they shall bring in an offering into the house of the Lord.

But if you will not hearken to me, to sanctify the sabbath day, and not to carry burdens, and not to bring them in by the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day: I will kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:

Arise, and go down into the potter's house, and there thou shalt hear my words.

And I went down into the potter's house, and behold he was doing a work on the wheel.

And the vessel was broken which he was making of clay with his hands: and turning he made another vessel, as it seemed good in his eyes to make it.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Cannot I do with you, as this potter, O house of Israel, saith the Lord? behold as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

I will suddenly speak against a nation, and against a kingdom, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy it.

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.

And I will suddenly speak of a nation and of a kingdom, to build up and plant it.

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.

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.

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.

Therefore thus saith the Lord: Ask among the nations: Who hath heard such horrible things, as the virgin of Israel hath done to excess?

Shall 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?

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:

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.

As a burning wind will I scatter them before the enemy: I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their destruction.

And they said: Come, and let us invent 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 strike him with the tongue, and let us give no heed to all his words.

Give heed to me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my adversaries.

Shall evil be rendered for good, because they have digged a pit for my soul? Remember that I have stood in thy sight, to speak good for them, and to turn away thy indignation from them.