Jeremiah 18:18-23
Opposition to God’s word frequently results in persecution of God’s servant, yet ultimate justice belongs to the Lord.
18 Then they said, “Come! Let’s devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law won’t perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let’s strike him with the tongue, and let’s not give heed to any of his words.”
19 Give heed to me, Yahweh, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me.
20 Should evil be recompensed for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.
21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and widows. Let their men be killed and their young men struck by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses when you bring a troop suddenly on them; for they have dug a pit to take me and hidden snares for my feet.
23 Yet, Yahweh, you know all their counsel against me to kill me. Don’t forgive their iniquity. Don’t blot out their sin from your sight, Let them be overthrown before you. Deal with them in the time of your anger.
Opposition to God’s word frequently results in persecution of God’s servant, yet ultimate justice belongs to the LORD.
To record the conspiracy of Judah’s leaders against Jeremiah and the prophet’s appeal to the LORD for justice in response to their rejection of God’s word.
Jeremiah 18:18–23 follows the Lord’s exposure of Judah’s irrational rebellion and impending judgment (Jeremiah 18:13–17). The people respond not with repentance but with hostility toward the messenger. This section forms one of Jeremiah’s personal laments, where the prophet pours out his anguish before God while reaffirming his reliance on divine justice.
The Potter’s House, the Refused Return, and the Plot Against Jeremiah
The LORD is sovereign over Judah as the potter is over clay, yet his warnings call for real repentance; Judah’s stubborn refusal turns mercy-shaped warning into judgment and exposes hostility toward the true prophet.