Jeremiah 19
19
Jeremiah and the Clay Jar
1The Lord said:
Jeremiah, go to the pottery shop and buy a clay jar. Then take along some of the city officials and leading priests 2#2 K 23.10; Jr 7.30-32; 32.34,35. and go to Hinnom Valley, just outside Potsherd#19.2 Potsherd: A piece of broken pottery. Gate. Tell the people that I have said:
3I am the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, and you kings of Judah and you people of Jerusalem had better pay attention. I am going to bring so much trouble on this valley that everyone who hears about it will be shocked. 4-5#Lv 18.21. The people of Judah stopped worshiping me and made this valley into a place of worship for Baal and other gods that have never helped them or their ancestors or their kings. And they have committed murder here, burning their young, innocent children as sacrifices to Baal. I have never even thought of telling you to do that. 6So watch out! Someday this place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. It will be called Slaughter Valley!
7You people of Judah and Jerusalem may have big plans, but here in this valley I'll ruin#19.7 ruin: In Hebrew “ruin” sounds like “jar” (see verse 1). those plans. I'll let your enemies kill you, and I'll tell the birds and wild animals to eat your dead bodies. 8I will turn Jerusalem into a pile of rubble, and every passerby will be shocked and horrified and will make insulting remarks. 9And while your enemies are trying to break through your city walls to kill you, the food supply will run out. You will become so hungry that you will eat the flesh of your friends and even of your own children.
10Jeremiah, as soon as you have said this, smash the jar while the people are watching. 11Then tell them that I have also said:
I am the Lord All-Powerful, and I warn you that I will shatter Judah and Jerusalem just like this jar that is broken beyond repair. You will bury your dead here in Topheth, but so many of you will die that there won't be enough room.
12-13I will make Jerusalem as unclean as Topheth, by filling the city with your dead bodies. I will do this because you and your kings have gone up to the roofs of your houses and burned incense to the stars in the sky, as though they were gods. And you have given sacrifices of wine to foreign gods.
Jeremiah Speaks in the Temple Courtyard
14I went to Topheth, where I told the people what the Lord had said. Then I went to the temple courtyard and shouted to the people, 15“Listen, everyone! Some time ago, the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, warned you that he would bring disaster on Jerusalem and all nearby villages. But you were stubborn and refused to listen. Now the Lord is going to bring the disaster he promised.”
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Jeremiah 19: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 19
19
The Broken Jar
1This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. 2Go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom. Go near the front of the Potsherd Gate. Take some of the elders of the people and priests with you. There speak the words I tell you. 3Say, ‘King of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to this message from the Lord. This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: I will soon bring a disaster on this place! Everyone who hears about it will be amazed and full of fear. 4I will do this because the people of Judah have quit following me. They have made this a place for foreign gods. They have burned sacrifices to other gods. They did not worship these gods long ago! Their ancestors didn’t worship these gods. The kings of Judah filled this place with the blood of the innocent people. 5The kings of Judah have built places to worship Baal. There they burn their sons in the fire to Baal. I did not speak about it or tell them to do that. I never even thought of such a thing. 6Now people call this place the Valley of Ben Hinnom or Topheth. But watch out! The days are coming, says the Lord, when people will call this place 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 let the people of Judah be 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 hiss at it. And they will shake their heads when they pass by Jerusalem. They will be shocked when they see how the city was destroyed. 9An enemy army will surround the city. They will not let anyone go out to get food. The people will become so hungry they will eat the bodies of their own sons and daughters. And then they will begin to eat each other.’”
10The Lord said, “While the people with you are watching, break that jar. 11Then say this: ‘The Lord of heaven’s armies says: I will break this nation and this city just as someone breaks a clay jar. It cannot be put back together again. The dead people will be buried here in Topheth. We will bury bodies until there is no more room. 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. This is because the people worshiped false gods on the roofs# In Bible times houses were built with flat roofs. The roof was used for drying things such as flax and fruit. And it was used as an extra room, as a place for worship and as a place to sleep in the summer. of their houses. They worshiped the stars and burned incense to honor them. They gave drink offerings to false gods.’”
14Then Jeremiah left Topheth where the Lord had told 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 of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I said I would bring disaster to Jerusalem and the villages around it. I will make it happen soon! This is because the people are very stubborn. They do not listen at all to what I say.’”
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.