Jeremiah 19

1 This is what the Lord says: "Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you,3 and say, 'Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.4 For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.6 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

7 "'In this place I will ruint the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds and the wild animals.8 I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds.9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh because their enemies will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.'

10 "Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching,11 and say to them, 'This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter's jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.12 This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth.13 The houses in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled like this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs to all the starry hosts and poured out drink offerings to other gods.'"

14 Jeremiah then returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court of the Lord's temple and said to all the people,15 "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to 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!’”