Jeremiah 18:11
Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
The verse is God's direct address to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, declaring that He is framing evil against them and devising judgment because of their evil ways, joined to a personal appeal to every one of them to return from his evil way and make his ways and his doings good. The threatened calamity is not inevitable but conditional, so that if the people turn from evil and change their conduct the declared evil can be averted and withheld. God's dealings with a nation turn upon its course, for He can prosper or overthrow even the mightiest nations, a nation that forsakes its sins is not held to the sins of its fathers, and the virtues of the fathers do not shield descendants who choose evil.
The people reject the appeal and choose their own plans and the desires of their evil hearts rather than repent. That refusal is forgetting God, forsaking the ancient paths, turning aside from Him, going away from the good paths, and stumbling. Those who reject the warning and stubbornly continue in their chosen course and follow their own counsel bring themselves under judgment and are left to face the results and consequences of that course.
The verse also shows that God's messengers when commanded must plainly warn wrongdoers even when those warned resist the message. Its warning reaches those who disregard God's counsel and lean on human wisdom, whose choices bring perplexity and leave them to meet the results, and who need to repent. Personal repentance and turning saves from death and hides many sins.