Jeremiah 19

1 Thus said Jehovah, Go, and buy a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;2 and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee;3 and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, that they knew not, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,5 and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:6 therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter.7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.8 And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall distress them.10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,11 and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury.12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith Jehovah, and to the inhabitants thereof, even making this city as Topheth:13 and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods.14 Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, whither Jehovah had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Jehovah’s house, and said to all the people:15 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.

Jeremiah 19

An Object Lesson from a Broken Clay Jar

1 The Lord told Jeremiah,t “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.ts Take with yous some of the leaders of the people and some of the leadersts of the priests.2 Go out to the part of the Hinnom Valley which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate.s Announce there what I tell you.t3 Say, ‘Listen to what the Lord says, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem!s The Lord God of Israel who rules over allts says, “I will bring a disaster on this places that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it ring!t4 I will do so because these peoplet have rejected me and have defileds this place. They have offered sacrifices in it to other gods which neither they nor their ancestorst nor the kings of Judah knew anything about. They have filled it with the blood of innocent children.t5 They have built places heret for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrificest are something I never commanded them to make! They are something I never told them to do! Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!6 So I, the Lord, say:t “The time will soon come that people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Hinnom Valley. But they will call this valleyts the Valley of Slaughter!7 In this place I will thwarts the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. I will deliver them over to the power of their enemies who are seeking to kill them. They will die by the swords at the hands of their enemies.t I will make their dead bodies food for the birds and wild beasts to eat.8 I will make this city an object of horror, a thing to be hissed at. All who pass by it will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorns because of all the disasters that have happened to it.t

9 I will reduce the people of this city to desperate straits during the siege imposed on it by their enemies who are seeking to kill them. I will make them so desperate that they will eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters and the flesh of one another.”’”ts
10 The Lord continued,t “Now break the jar in front of those who have come here with you.11 Tell them the Lord who rules over all says,t ‘I will do just as Jeremiah has done.t I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter’s vessel which is broken beyond repair.t The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.’s12 I, the Lord, say:t ‘That is how I will deal with this city and its citizens. I will make it like Topheth.

13 The houses in Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled by dead bodiest just like this place, Topheth. For they offered sacrifice to the starst and poured out drink offerings to other gods on the roofs of those houses.’”
14 Then Jeremiah left Topheth where the Lord had sent him to give that prophecy. He went to the Lord’s temple and stoodt in its courtyard and called out to all the people.

15 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over allts says, ‘I will soon bring on this city and all the towns surrounding itt all the disaster I threatened to do to it. I will do so because they have stubbornly refusedt to pay any attention to what I have said!’”