5. Then the Lord spoke his word to me:
6. “Family of Israel, can’t I do the same thing with you?” says the Lord. “You are in my hands like the clay in the potter’s hands.
7. There may come a time when I will speak about a nation or a kingdom that I will pull up by its roots or that I will pull down to destroy it.
8. But if the people of that nation stop doing the evil they have done, I will change my mind and not carry out my plans to bring disaster to them.
9. There may come another time when I will speak about a nation that I will build up and plant.
10. But if I see it doing evil by not obeying me, I will change my mind and not carry out my plans to do good for them.
11. “So, say this to the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am preparing disaster for you and making plans against you. So stop doing evil. Change your ways and do what is right.’