1The LORD said to me, 2“Go down to the potter's house, where I will give you my message.” 3So I went there and saw the potter working at his wheel. 4Whenever a piece of pottery turned out imperfect, he would take the clay and make it into something else.
5Then the LORD said to me, 6“Haven't I the right to do with you people of Israel what the potter did with the clay? You are in my hands just like clay in the potter's hands.
1Remind your people to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey them, and to be ready to do good in every way. 2Tell them not to speak evil of anyone, but to be peaceful and friendly, and always to show a gentle attitude towards everyone. 3For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and wrong. We were slaves to passions and pleasures of all kinds. We spent our lives in malice and envy; others hated us and we hated them. 4But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour was revealed, 5he saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us. 6God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us through Jesus Christ our Saviour, 7so that by his grace we might be put right with God and come into possession of the eternal life we hope for.