Jeremiah 19
19
The Clay Jar
1This is what the Lord says: “Go, buy a potter’s clay#Jr 18:2 jar. Take#19:1 Syr, Tg; MT omits Take some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests#2Kg 19:2 2and go out to Ben Hinnom Valley#2Kg 23:10; 2Ch 28:3; Jr 7:31–32 near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you. 3Say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.#Jr 17:20 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will shudder#19:3 Lit about it, his ears will tingle; Hb obscure#1Sm 3:11; 2Kg 21:12 4because they have abandoned me#Dt 28:20; 31:16; 1Sm 8:8; 1Kg 11:33; 2Kg 22:17; 2Ch 34:25; Jr 1:16; 5:7 and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in it to other gods that they, their ancestors, and the kings of Judah have never known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.#Dt 19:10; 27:25; 2Kg 21:6,16; 24:4; Is 59:7; Jr 2:34 5They 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.#19:5 Lit mentioned, and it did not arise on my heart#Jr 7:31; 32:35
6“‘Therefore, look, the days are coming#Jr 7:32; 16:14; 23:5; 48:12; 49:2; 51:47,52 — this is the Lord’s declaration — when this place will no longer be called Topheth and Ben Hinnom Valley, but Slaughter Valley.#Jr 25:34 7I 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 intend 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.#Dt 28:26; Ps 79:2; Jr 7:33; 15:3; 16:4 8I will make this city desolate, an object of scorn. Everyone who passes by it will be appalled and scoff because of all its wounds.#Dt 28:37; 2Ch 29:8; 30:7; Jr 5:30; 25:9,18; 29:18; 42:18; 44:12,22; 49:17; 50:13; Mc 1:9; 6:16; Nah 3:19; Zph 2:15 9I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they will eat each other’s flesh in the distressing siege inflicted on them by their enemies who intend to take their life.’#Dt 28:53–57; Lm 4:10; Ezk 5:10
10“Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the people going with you, 11and you are to proclaim to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies 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.#Jr 7:32 12That is what I will do to this place — this is the declaration of the Lord — and to its residents, making this city like Topheth. 13The 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 all the stars in the sky#Dt 4:19; 2Kg 17:16; 23:4–5; Zph 1:5 and poured out drink offerings to other gods.’”
14Jeremiah returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple,#2Ch 20:5; Jr 26:2 and proclaimed to all the people, 15“This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to bring on this city — and on all its cities — every disaster that I spoke against it, for they have become obstinate, not obeying my words.’”#Jr 7:26
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Jeremiah 19: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Jeremiah 19
19
Judah Is like a Broken Jar
1This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. 2Take some of the elders of the people and the priests, and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the front of the Potsherd Gate. There speak the words I tell you. 3Say, ‘Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to this message from the Lord. This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: I will soon bring a disaster on this place that will amaze and frighten everyone who hears about it. 4The people of Judah have quit following me. They have made this a place for foreign gods. They have burned sacrifices to other gods that neither they, nor their ancestors, nor the kings of Judah had ever known before. They filled this place with the blood of innocent people. 5They have built places on hilltops to worship Baal, where they burn their children in the fire to Baal. That is something I did not command or speak about; it never even entered my mind. 6Now people call this place the Valley of Ben Hinnom or Topheth, but the days are coming, says the Lord, when people will call it the Valley of Killing.
7“ ‘At this place I will ruin the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. The enemy will chase them, and I will have them killed with swords. I will make their dead bodies food for the birds and wild animals. 8I will completely destroy this city. People will make fun of it and shake their heads when they pass by. They will be shocked when they see how the city was destroyed. 9An enemy army will surround the city and will not let anyone go out to get food. I will make the people so hungry that they will eat the bodies of their own sons and daughters, and then they will begin to eat each other.’
10“While the people with you are watching, break that jar. 11Then say this: ‘The Lord All-Powerful says: I will break this nation and this city just as someone breaks a clay jar that cannot be put back together again. The dead people will be buried here in Topheth, because there is no other place for them. 12This is what I will do to these people and to this place, says the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. 13The houses in Jerusalem and the king’s palaces will become as unclean as this place, Topheth, because the people worshiped gods on the roofs of their houses. They worshiped the stars and burned incense to honor them and gave drink offerings to gods.’ ”
14When Jeremiah left Topheth where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, he went to the Lord’s Temple, stood in the courtyard, and said to all the people: 15“This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will soon bring disaster to Jerusalem and the villages around it, as I said I would. This will happen because the people are very stubborn and do not listen at all to what I say.’ ”
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.