Jeremiah 19

The Clay Jar

1 This is what the Lord says: "Go, buy a potter's clay jar. Take some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests 2 and go out to the Valley of Hinnom near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you. 3 Say: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will shudder 4 because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in it to other gods that they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah have never known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.

5 They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought.
6 "Therefore, take note! The days are coming"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 I will spoil the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hand of those who want to take their life. I will provide their corpses as food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land. 8 I will make this city desolate, an object of scorn. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and scoff because of all its wounds.

9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they will eat each other's flesh in the siege and distress that their enemies, those who want to take their life, inflict on them.
10 "Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the people traveling with you, 11 and you are to proclaim to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter's jar that can never again be mended. They will bury [the dead] in Topheth because there is no [other] place for burials. 12 I will do so to this place"-[this is] the declaration of the Lord-"and to its residents, making this city like Topheth.

13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will become impure like that place Topheth-all the houses on whose rooftops they have burned incense to the whole heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods."
14 Jeremiah came back from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of the Lord's temple, and proclaimed to all the people,

15 "This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'I am about to bring on this city-and on all its [dependent] villages-all the disaster that I spoke against it, for they have become obstinate, not obeying 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!’”