Isaiah 64; Jeremiah 18:1-12

Isaiah 64

1 O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at thy presence--

2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil--to make thy name known to thy adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at thy presence!

3 When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains quaked at thy presence.

4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him.

5 Thou meetest him that joyfully works righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways. Behold, thou wast angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?

6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7 There is no one that calls upon thy name, that bestirs himself to take hold of thee; for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast delivered us into the hand of our iniquities.

8 Yet, O LORD, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou art our potter; we are all the work of thy hand.

9 Be not exceedingly angry, O LORD, and remember not iniquity for ever. Behold, consider, we are all thy people.

10 Thy holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins.

12 Wilt thou restrain thyself at these things, O LORD? Wilt thou keep silent, and afflict us sorely?

Jeremiah 18:1-12

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

2 "Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words."

3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel.

4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

5 Then the word of the LORD came to me:

6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? says the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it,

8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will repent of the evil that I intended to do to it.

9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it,

10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will repent of the good which 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 evil against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.'

12 "But they say, 'That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.'