Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible




Or does the potter not have authority over the clay, to make from the same lump a vessel that [is] for {honorable use} and [one] that [is] for {ordinary use}?

How much more dwellers in clay houses, whose foundation [is] in the dust? They are crushed like a moth.


Woe [to the] one who strives with his {maker}, a potsherd among potsherds of earth! Does [the] clay say to the one who fashions it, 'What are you making?' and 'Your work has no hands'?

"Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel.


because of all the evil of the people of Israel and the people of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger--they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And they have turned to me [their] backs and not [their] faces, though {I have taught them over and over again}, but they [were] not listening to accept discipline. And they set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. read more.
And they built the high places of Baal that [are] in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to present as offerings their sons and their daughters to Molech, which I had not commanded them, and it had not come to my {mind} to do this detestable thing in order to cause Judah to sin." "So now {therefore}, thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning this city, [of] which you [are] saying, 'It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague':

But you {who forsake} Yahweh, forgetting {my holy mountain}, who set a table for Fortune, and who {pour out} a jug of mixed wine for Destiny, and I will remit you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not listen, but you did the evil in my eyes, and you chose that in which I do not delight." Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! My servants shall eat but you, you shall be hungry. Look! My servants shall drink but you, you shall be thirsty. Look! My servants shall rejoice but you, you shall be ashamed. read more.
Look! My servants shall shout {for joy}, but you, you shall cry out {for pain} and howl {for sadness}. And you shall leave your name to my chosen ones as a curse, and the Lord Yahweh will kill you, and he will {give} his servants another name.

Thus says Yahweh: "Heaven [is] my throne, and the earth [is] the footstool for my feet. Where [is] this house that you would build for me? And where [is] this resting place for me? And my hand has made all these [things], and all these {came to be}," {declares} Yahweh, "but I look to this [one]: to [the] humble and [the] contrite of spirit and [the one] frightened at my word. The one who slaughters bull strikes a man; the one who slaughters lamb for sacrifice breaks the neck [of] a dog. The one who offers an offering, [the] blood of swine; the one who offers frankincense blesses an idol. Indeed, they themselves have chosen their ways, and their soul delights in their abhorrence. read more.
Indeed, I myself I will choose their ill treatment, and I will bring them objects of their dread, because I called, and {no one answered}; I spoke and they did not listen, but they did the evil in my eyes, and they chose that in which I do not delight."

For I know that after my death you will certainly act corruptly, and you will turn aside from the way that I have commanded you, and the disaster in the future days will befall you, because you will do evil in the eyes of Yahweh, {provoking him with the work of your hands}."

So Yahweh spoke by the hand of his servants the prophets, saying, "Because Manasseh the king of Judah committed these detestable things [and] did evil more than the Amorites did who were before him and caused even Judah to sin with his idols, therefore, thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, 'Look, I am bringing disaster upon Jerusalem and Judah about which the two ears of all who hear it will tingle. read more.
I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes the dish; he wipes it and turns it on its face. I will give up the remainder of my inheritance, and I will give them into the hand of their enemies. They shall become as prey and as spoil for all their enemies, because they have done evil in my eyes and were provoking me from the day that their ancestors came out from Egypt up to this day.'" Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he filled Jerusalem {from one end to another}, apart from his sin which he caused Judah to sin by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

For our ancestors acted unfaithfully and did evil in the sight of Yahweh our God, and have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the dwelling place of Yahweh. {They have turned their backs} [on it]. They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. And they did not burn incense or offer burnt offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel. And the wrath of Yahweh was upon Judah and Jerusalem. And he made them as an abhorrence, as a desolation and an object of scorn, as you see with your own eyes. read more.
Now behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives [are] in captivity on account of this.

But when they had rest they returned to doing evil before you, and you abandoned them in the hand of their enemies, and they ruled over them. Then they returned and cried out to you, and from the heavens you heard and many times rescued them according to your compassions. You warned them so that they would return to your law. Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to your commandments but sinned against your judgments that a person must do so that they may live. They turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not listen. You were patient toward them for many years, and you have warned them by your spirit through the hand of your prophets, but they did not listen. So you gave them into the hand of the nations of the lands. read more.
But in your great compassions you did not put an end to them, and you did not abandon them. For you are a gracious and compassionate God.

For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, "Break up for yourselves prepared virgin soil, and you must not sow among thornbushes. Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my wrath goes forth like the fire and burns, and there is no [one who] extinguishes [it], because of the evil of your deeds."

And the word of Yahweh came to me, {saying}, "Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel. One moment I speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, to uproot, and to tear down, and to destroy [it]. read more.
But [if] that nation turns back from its evil that I have threatened against it, then I will relent concerning the disaster that I planned to do to it. And the [next] moment I speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant [it]. But [if] it does evil in my sight, to not listen to my voice, then I will relent concerning the good that I said I would do [to] it.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for [there] is no authority except by God, and those that exist are put in place by God. So then, the one who resists authority resists the ordinance [which is] from God, and those who resist will receive condemnation on themselves. For rulers are not a [cause of] terror for a good deed, but for bad [conduct]. So do you want not to be afraid of authority? Do what [is] good, and you will have praise from it, read more.
for it is God's servant to you for what [is] good. But if you do what [is] bad, be afraid, because it does not bear the sword to no purpose. For it is God's servant, the one who avenges for punishment on the one who does [what is] bad.


And [now] you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of his temple you have brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have been drinking wine from them, and you have praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone that [do] not see and [do] not hear and [do] not know, but the God {who holds your life in his hand} and all of your ways {come from him}, you have not honored.

To you, O Yahweh, [is] the greatness and the power and the splendor and the glory and the strength, for everything in the heavens and in the earth. Yours, O Yahweh, [is] the kingdom and exaltation over all as head! And wealth and glory [are] from you, and you rule over all. And in your hand [is] power and might. And in your hand [is power] to make great and to give strength to all.

Who among all of these does not know that Yahweh's hand has done this? In whose hand [is] the life of all living things and {the breath of every human being}?

Bless our God, O peoples, and cause the sound of his praise to be heard, the one who has kept our soul among the living, and has not allowed our foot to slip.

rather God [is the] judge; one he brings low, and another he lifts up. For [there is] a cup in the hand of Yahweh with wine [that] foams, fully mixed, and he pours out from this. Surely all [the] wicked of [the] land {will quaff it down [to] its dregs}.

For Yahweh [is] [the] great God, and [the] great king over all gods, in whose hand [are the] unexplored places of [the] earth, and [the] heights of [the] mountains [are] his, to whom belongs the sea that he made, and [the] dry land [that] his hands formed.


So all this I laid to my heart, and I concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, [are] in the hand of God. So no one knows anything that will [come] to them, whether [it will be] love or hatred.

And the word of Yahweh came to me, {saying}, "Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel.


And the word of Yahweh came to me, {saying}, "Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel. One moment I speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, to uproot, and to tear down, and to destroy [it]. read more.
But [if] that nation turns back from its evil that I have threatened against it, then I will relent concerning the disaster that I planned to do to it. And the [next] moment I speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant [it]. But [if] it does evil in my sight, to not listen to my voice, then I will relent concerning the good that I said I would do [to] it.

The sentence [is] by [the] decree of [the] watchers, and the decision [by] [the] command of [the] holy [ones], {in order that} the living will know that the Most High [is] sovereign over [the] kingdom of humankind, and {to whomever} he wills he gives it, and he [even] sets [the] humblest of men over it."

Who among all of these does not know that Yahweh's hand has done this? In whose hand [is] the life of all living things and {the breath of every human being}? Does not [the] ear test words and [the] palate taste food for itself? read more.
Wisdom [is] with [the] aged, and understanding [is in] length of days. "With him [are] wisdom and powerful deeds, and to him [belong] counsel and understanding. If he tears down, then it will not be rebuilt; if he shuts a man in, then he cannot be freed. Look, [if] he withholds the water, then they dry up; and [if] he sends them out, then they overwhelm [the] land. "Strength and sound wisdom [are] with him; [the] deceived and [the] deceiver [are] his. He leads counselors away stripped, and he makes fools of judges. He loosens [the] fetters of kings, and he binds a loincloth on their loins. He leads priests away stripped, and he overthrows {the members of ancient families}. He deprives [the] trustworthy of speech, and he takes away [the] discretion of elders. He pours contempt on noblemen, and he loosens [the] girdle of [the] mighty. "He uncovers mysteries out of darkness, and he brings deep shadow to the light. He makes the nations great, then he destroys them; he expands the nations, then he guides them.

[He is] the one who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants [are] like grasshoppers; the one who stretches out [the] heavens like a veil and spreads them out like tent to live [in], the one who brings princes to nothing; he makes rulers of [the] earth like nothing.

And you must command them for their masters, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, this you shall say to your masters: "I have made the earth with humankind and animals that [are] on the face of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and I give it to whomever is right in my eyes. And now I myself have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and also the animals of the field I have given to him to serve him. read more.
And all the nations will serve him, and his son, and {his grandson}, until the coming of the time of {his own} land. Then many nations and great kings will let him work. "But it will be [that] the nation or kingdom that will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, and with the famine, and with the plague," {declares} Yahweh, "until I have destroyed it with my hand.

Daniel {said}: "Let his name, [the name] of God, be blessed {throughout the ages}, for the wisdom and the power {are his}. And he changes the times and the seasons, and he deposes kings and he sets up kings; he gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to [men who] know understanding.

{O king}, the Most High God gave the kingdom and the greatness and the glory and the majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your {predecessor}. And because of the greatness that he gave to him, all the peoples, the nations and languages trembled and feared before him; whomever he wanted he killed, and whomever he wanted he let live, and whomever he wanted he honored, and whomever he wanted he humbled. But {when} his heart became arrogant and his spirit became hard [so as] to act proudly, he was deposed from the throne of his kingdom and the glory {was taken away from him}. read more.
And he was driven away {from human society} and his mind was made like the animals and his dwelling [was] with the wild asses; [and] {he was given} grass like oxen to eat, and with the dew of heaven his body was bathed, until he acknowledged that the Most High God [is] sovereign over the kingdom of humankind, and {whoever} he wants he sets over it. "But you his {successor}, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart {even though} you knew all this. And [now] you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of his temple you have brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have been drinking wine from them, and you have praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone that [do] not see and [do] not hear and [do] not know, but the God {who holds your life in his hand} and all of your ways {come from him}, you have not honored. So then the palm of the hand was sent out from his presence and this writing was inscribed. "Now this was the writing that was inscribed: 'Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin.' "This [is] the explanation of the matter: 'Mene'--God has numbered your kingdom and brought an end [to] it. " 'Tekel'--you have been weighed on scales and you have been found wanting. " 'Peres'--your kingdom has been divided and given to [the] Medes and Persians.'" Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel [with] purple and [placed] a necklace of gold around his neck, and they made a proclamation concerning him that he would be [the] third ruler [in authority] in the kingdom. {That same night} Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom {when he was about sixty-two years old}.



Or does the potter not have authority over the clay, to make from the same lump a vessel that [is] for {honorable use} and [one] that [is] for {ordinary use}?

Woe [to the] one who strives with his {maker}, a potsherd among potsherds of earth! Does [the] clay say to the one who fashions it, 'What are you making?' and 'Your work has no hands'?

"Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Your perversity! As if {a potter} shall be regarded as [the] clay! That [the] product of its maker [says], "He did not make me," and [the] thing made into shape says of its {potter}, "He has no understanding."



"Stand up and go down [to] the house of the potter, and there I will let you hear my words."

"Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel.


"Yes, look, I [am] going to command and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations like one who shakes with a sieve, but not a pebble will fall [to the] ground.

and the nations will know that because of their guilt the house of Israel went into exile, {because} they acted unfaithfully against me, and I hid my face from them, and I gave them into the hand of their foes, and they fell by the sword, all of them. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgression I dealt with them, and I hid my face from them.

"{I continued watching} until thrones were placed and an Ancient of Days sat; his clothing [was] like white snow and the hair of his head [was] like pure wool and his throne [was] a flame of fire and its wheels [were] burning fire. A stream of fire issued forth and flowed {from his presence}; thousands [upon] thousands served him and ten thousand [upon] ten thousand stood before him. The judge sat, and [the] books were opened. "{I continued watching} then because of the noise of the boastful words of the horn [who was] speaking; {I continued watching} until the beast was slain and its body was destroyed, and it was given [over] to burning with fire. read more.
And [as for] the remainder of the beasts, {their dominion was taken away}, but a prolongation {of their life} was given to them for a season and a time.

"Therefore, wait for me"--a declaration of Yahweh-- "for the day of my rising as a witness. For my decision [is] to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out my wrath upon them, all my burning anger. For by the fire of my anger all the land shall be consumed.

This [is] the plan that is planned concerning all of the earth; and this [is] the hand that is stretched out over all of the nations. For Yahweh of hosts has planned, and who will frustrate [it]? And his hand [is] stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Because of these [things] shall I not punish?" {declares} Yahweh, "and on a nation who [is] like this, shall I not take revenge?

"Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel. One moment I speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, to uproot, and to tear down, and to destroy [it]. But [if] that nation turns back from its evil that I have threatened against it, then I will relent concerning the disaster that I planned to do to it. read more.
And the [next] moment I speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant [it]. But [if] it does evil in my sight, to not listen to my voice, then I will relent concerning the good that I said I would do [to] it.

{And then} when [the] seventy years [are] fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' {declares} Yahweh, 'for their iniquity, and [the] land of [the] Chaldeans, and I will make it {an everlasting waste}. And I will bring upon that land all my words that I have spoken against it, everything that is written in this scroll which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings will let them work, even them, and I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.'" read more.
For thus said Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me, "Take this cup of the wine [of] wrath from my hand, and you must give it [to] all the nations to whom I [am] sending you to drink. And they will drink, and they will stagger, and they will act like madmen because of the {presence} of the sword that I [am] sending among them." So I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and I gave [it] [to] all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me to drink: Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and its kings, [and] its officials, to make them a site of ruins, a horror, an [object of] hissing, and a curse, as [it is] this day; Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and his servants, and his officials, and all his people; and all the other people; and all the kings of the land of Uz; and all the kings of the land of [the] Philistines--Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; Edom, and Moab, and the {Ammonites}; and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland that [is] across the sea; and Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all those who are trimmed to [the] side; and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the other people who dwell in the desert; and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; and all the kings of the north, near and far, each one to his brother, and all the kingdoms of the world that [are] on the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach, he will drink after them. "And you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Drink and become drunk, and vomit, and fall, and you must not rise because of the {presence} of the sword that I [am] sending among you." ' And it will happen, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "You must certainly drink! For look, on the city that is called {by} my name I [am] beginning to inflict harm, and you indeed, will you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I [am] summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth," {declares} Yahweh of hosts.' And you yourself shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them: 'Yahweh will roar from [on] high, and from {his holy dwelling place} he will give his voice. He will roar mightily against his settlement, a jubilant shout like those who tread [grapes], he will answer against all the inhabitants of the earth. [The] rage of battle will resound to the end of the earth, for [there is] a lawsuit of Yahweh against the nations. He [is] entering into judgment with all wicked flesh, he will give them to the sword,' {declares} Yahweh." Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "Look, disaster [is] going out from nation to nation, and a great tempest is stirred up from the farthest parts of [the] earth. And the slain [ones] of Yahweh will be on that day from [one] end of the earth to the [other] end of the earth, and they will not be mourned, and they will not be gathered, and they will not be buried. They will become like dung on the {surface} of the ground.

And he said to me, "Son of man, I am sending you to the {Israelites}, to nations [who are] rebelling, who rebelled against me, they and their ancestors, they transgressed against me {until this very day}. And the children [are] {impudent} and {stubborn}, [and so] I am sending you to them, and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh!' And they, whether they listen or whether they fail [to listen], for they [are] a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet was in their midst.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God to seek [him] [by] prayer and pleas for mercy, in fasting and [in] sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed to Yahweh my God, and I made confession and I said, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and loyal love with [those who] love him and with [those who] keep his commandments, we have sinned and we have done wrong and we acted wickedly and we rebelled and [have been] turning aside from your commandments and from your ordinances. read more.
We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors and to all the people of the land. "{Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord}, and on us [is] open shame, [just] as [it is] this day to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to all Israel, {those who are near and those who are far off} in all the lands [to] which you have driven them, because of their infidelity which they displayed against you. Yahweh, on us [is] open shame, on our kings, on our princes, and on our ancestors, because we have sinned against you. {Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord, our God}, for we have rebelled against him, and we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God, by following his law {which he placed before us} by [the] hand of his servants the prophets. "And all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside [so as] not to listen to your voice, and [so] the curse and the oath which [was] written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. And [so] he [has] carried out his words which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring upon us great calamity which was not done under all [of] heaven as it was done in Jerusalem. Just as [it is] written in the law of Moses, all of this calamity has come upon us, and {we have not implored} the face of Yahweh our God [so as] to turn from our iniquities and to attend closely to your faithfulness. So Yahweh [has] kept watch over the calamity, and [now] he [has] brought it upon us. Indeed, Yahweh our God [is] righteous concerning all his works that he has done, but we have not listened to his voice. "And now, Lord our God, who have brought your people out from [the] land of Egypt with a strong hand, and you [have] made for yourself a name [until] this day--we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. Lord, according to all your righteousness, please let your anger and your rage turn away from your city Jerusalem, {your holy mountain}, because through our sins and through the iniquities of our ancestors Jerusalem and your people have become an object of mockery among all of our neighbors.

Just as they go, I will cast my net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the heavens; I will discipline them according to a report to their assembly.

"I have cut off nations; their strongholds are deserted. I have laid waste their streets, so that none pass through. Their cities have been destroyed [and are] without a man, without an inhabitant.


Then Yahweh appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I hold back the heavens so that there is not rain, and when I command the locust to devour the earth, and if I send disease among my people, [then if] my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and will pray and will seek my face and will turn from their evil ways, then I myself shall hear from the heavens and will forgive their sins and heal their land.

And the word of Yahweh came to me, {saying}, "Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel. One moment I speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom, to uproot, and to tear down, and to destroy [it]. read more.
But [if] that nation turns back from its evil that I have threatened against it, then I will relent concerning the disaster that I planned to do to it.