Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 254
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IMMERSE
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PROPHETS
17:27–18:17
“‘But if you do not listen to me and refuse to keep the Sabbath holy, and
if on the Sabbath day you bring loads of merchandise through the gates of
Jerusalem just as on other days, then I will set fire to these gates. The fire
will spread to the palaces, and no one will be able to put out the roaring
flames.’”
The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the
potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as he told me and
found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not
turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and
started over.
Then the Lord gave me this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as
this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are
you in my hand. If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be
uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, but then that nation renounces its
evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. And if I announce that I
will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, but then that nation
turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.
“Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them,
‘This is what the Lord says: I am planning disaster for you instead of
good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’”
But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to
live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.”
So this is what the Lord says:
“Has anyone ever heard of such a thing,
even among the pagan nations?
My virgin daughter Israel
has done something terrible!
Does the snow ever disappear from the mountaintops of Lebanon?
Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever
run dry?
But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me;
they burn incense to worthless idols.
They have stumbled off the ancient highways
and walk in muddy paths.
Therefore, their land will become desolate,
a monument to their stupidity.
All who pass by will be astonished
and will shake their heads in amazement.
I will scatter my people before their enemies
