As the clay in the hand of the potter, so is Israel in God's hand. He pardoneth penitents, and punisheth the obstinate. They conspire against Jeremias, for which he denounceth to them the miseries that hang over them.

 1 The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying:
Verbum quod factum est ad Jeremiam a Domino, dicens :

 2 Arise, and go down into the potter's house, and there thou shalt hear my words.
Surge, et descende in domum figuli, et ibi audies verba mea.

 3 And I went down into the potter's house, and behold he was doing a work on the wheel.
Et descendi in domum figuli, et ecce ipse faciebat opus super rotam.

 4 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.
Et dissipatum est vas quod ipse faciebat e luto manibus suis : conversusque fecit illud vas alterum, sicut placuerat in oculis ejus ut faceret.

 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens :

 6 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.
Numquid sicut figulus iste, non potero vobis facere, domus Israel? ait Dominus : ecce sicut lutum in manu figuli, sic vos in manu mea, domus Israel.

 7 I will suddenly speak against a nation, and against a kingdom, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy it.
Repente loquar adversum gentem et adversus regnum, ut eradicem, et destruam, et disperdam illud :

 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.
si poenitentiam egerit gens illa a malo suo, quod locutus sum adversus eam, agam et ego poenitentiam super malo quod cogitavi ut facerem ei.

 9 And I will suddenly speak of a nation and of a kingdom, to build up and plant it.
Et subito loquar de gente et de regno, ut aedificem et plantem illud,

 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.
si fecerit malum in oculis meis, ut non audiat vocem meam, poenitentiam agam super bono quod locutus sum ut facerem ei.

 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.
Nunc ergo dic viro Juda, et habitatoribus Jerusalem, dicens : Haec dicit Dominus : Ecce ego fingo contra vos malum, et cogito contra vos cogitationem : revertatur unusquisque a via sua mala, et dirigite vias vestras et studia vestra.

 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.
Qui dixerunt : Desperavimus : post cogitationes enim nostras ibimus, et unusquisque pravitatem cordis sui mali faciemus.

 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?
Ideo haec dicit Dominus : Interrogate gentes : quis audivit talia horribilia, quae fecit nimis virgo Israel?

 14 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?
Numquid deficiet de petra agri nix Libani? aut evelli possunt aquae erumpentes frigidae, et defluentes?

 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:
Quia oblitus est mei populus meus, frustra libantes, et impingentes in viis suis, in semitis saeculi, ut ambularent per eas in itinere non trito,

 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.
ut fieret terra eorum in desolationem, et in sibilum sempiternum : omnis qui praeterierit per eam obstupescet, et movebit caput suum.

 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.
Sicut ventus urens dispergam eos coram inimico : dorsum, et non faciem, ostendam eis in die perditionis eorum.

 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.
Et dixerunt : Venite, et cogitemus contra Jeremiam cogitationes : non enim peribit lex a sacerdote, neque consilium a sapiente, nec sermo a propheta : venite, et percutiamus eum lingua, et non attendamus ad universos sermones ejus.

 19 Give heed to me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my adversaries.
Attende, Domine, ad me, et audi vocem adversariorum meorum.

 20 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.
Numquid redditur pro bono malum, quia foderunt foveam animae meae? Recordare quod steterim in conspectu tuo ut loquerer pro eis bonum, et averterem indignationem tuam ab eis.

 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.
Propterea da filios eorum in famem, et deduc eos in manus gladii : fiant uxores eorum absque liberis, et viduae : et viri earum interficiantur morte : juvenes eorum confodiantur gladio in praelio :

 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.
audiatur clamor de domibus eorum : adduces enim super eos latronem repente, quia foderunt foveam ut caperent me, et laqueos absconderunt pedibus meis.

 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.
Tu autem, Domine, scis omne consilium eorum adversum me in mortem : ne propitieris iniquitati eorum, et peccatum eorum a facie tua non deleatur : fiant corruentes in conspectu tuo, in tempore furoris tui abutere eis.