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Jeremiah 18:7-17

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7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will 1pluck up and break down and destroy it,
8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, 2turns from its evil, 3I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.
9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will 4build and plant it,
10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.
11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 'Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. 5Return, every one from his evil way, and 6amend your ways and your deeds.'
12 "But they say, 7'That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to 8the stubbornness of his evil heart.'
13 "Therefore thus says the LORD: 9Ask among the nations, Who has heard the like of this? The virgin Israel has done 10a very horrible thing.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon leave the crags of Sirion?[a] Do the mountain waters run dry,[b] the cold flowing streams?
15 11But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to 12false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, 13in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, 14not the highway,
16 making their land 15a horror, a thing 16to be hissed at forever. 17Everyone who passes by it is horrified 18and shakes his head.
17 19Like the east wind 20I will scatter them before the enemy. 21I will show them my back, not my face, in the day of their calamity."
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Jeremiah 18:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 18

This chapter expresses the sovereign power of God ever his creatures, and his usual methods of dealing with them; it threatens destruction to the Jews for their idolatry; and is closed with the prophet's complaint of his persecutors, and with imprecations upon them. The sovereign power of God is expressed under the simile of a potter working in his shop, and making and marring vessels at pleasure, Jer 18:1-4; the application of which to God, and the house of Israel, is in Jer 18:5,6; and is illustrated by his usual dealings with kingdoms and nations; for though he is a sovereign Being, yet he acts both in a kind and equitable way; and as the potter changes his work, so he changes the dispensations of his providence, of which two instances are given; the one is, that having threatened ruin to a nation, upon their repentance and good behaviour he revokes the threatening, Jer 18:7,8; and the other is, that having made a declaration of good to a people, upon their sin and disobedience he recalls it, and punishes them for their wickedness, Jer 18:9,10; then follows a prophecy of the destruction of the Jews in particular, in which they are exhorted to repentance to prevent it; their obstinacy is observed; their folly in departing from God, and worshipping idols, is exposed; and they are threatened with utter ruin, Jer 18:11-17; the conspiracy and evil designs of the Jews against the prophet, their malice and ingratitude, are complained of by him, Jer 18:18-20; his imprecations upon them, and prayers for their destruction, are delivered out in Jer 18:21-23.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 21

  • 1. Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 42:10
  • 2. Ezekiel 18:21
  • 3. Jeremiah 26:3, 13, 19; Judges 2:18; Jonah 3:10
  • 4. [See ver. 7 above]
  • 5. Jeremiah 35:15; 2 Kings 17:13; Jonah 3:8
  • 6. Jeremiah 7:3; Jeremiah 25:5; Jeremiah 35:15
  • 7. Jeremiah 2:25
  • 8. See Jeremiah 3:17
  • 9. Jeremiah 2:10, 11
  • 10. Jeremiah 5:30
  • 11. Jeremiah 2:13, 32; Jeremiah 17:13
  • 12. Jeremiah 2:5; Jeremiah 10:15; Jeremiah 16:19
  • 13. Jeremiah 6:16
  • 14. [Isaiah 57:14]
  • 15. Jeremiah 19:8; Jeremiah 25:9, 11, 18; Jeremiah 49:13, 17; Jeremiah 50:13; Jeremiah 51:37; 2 Chronicles 29:8
  • 16. Jeremiah 19:8; Jeremiah 25:9, 11, 18; Jeremiah 49:13, 17; Jeremiah 50:13; Jeremiah 51:37; 2 Chronicles 29:8
  • 17. Jeremiah 50:13; Lamentations 2:15
  • 18. Job 16:4; Psalms 22:7; Matthew 27:39
  • 19. Gen. 41:6, 23, 27; Exodus 10:13; Job 27:21; Psalms 48:7; Ezekiel 27:26; Hosea 13:15; Jonah 4:8
  • 20. Jeremiah 13:24
  • 21. [Jeremiah 2:27]

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Hebrew of the field
  • [b]. Hebrew Are foreign waters plucked up
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.