Jeremiah 19

The Broken Jar

1 Thus says the LORD, "Go and buy a potter's earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests.2 Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the potsherd gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you,3 and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold I am about to bring a calamity upon this place, at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle.4 Because they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods, that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent5 and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind;6 therefore, behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter.7 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 those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.8 I will also make this city a desolation and an object of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its disasters.9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them."'

10 "Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you11 and say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter's vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial.12 This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants," declares the LORD, "so as to make this city like Topheth.13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods."'"

14 Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD'S house and said to all the people:15 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed 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!’”