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
Israel Will Be Smashed Like a Clay Jar
1This is what the Lord says: Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders of the priests. 2Go to the valley of Ben Hinnom at the entrance to Potsherd Gate. Announce there the things I plan to do. 3Say, “Listen to the Lord’s word, you kings of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to bring such a disaster on this place that the ears of everyone who hears about it will ring.
4“The people, their ancestors, and the kings of Judah have abandoned me. They have made this place unrecognizable by burning incense as an offering to other gods that they hadn’t heard of. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people. 5They have built worship sites to burn their children as sacrifices to Baal. I didn’t ask them or command them to do this. It never entered my mind.
6“That is why the days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben Hinnom. Instead, it will be called Slaughter Valley. 7I will smash the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will cut them down with swords in front of their enemies and with the hands of those who want to kill them. I will give their bodies as food to birds and to animals. 8I will devastate this city. It will become something to hiss at. Everyone who goes by it will be stunned and hiss with contempt at all the disasters that happen to it. 9I will make the people eat the flesh of their sons and daughters. They will eat each other’s flesh during blockades and hardships that their enemies impose on them when they want to kill them.”
10 ⌞The Lord says,⌟ “Then smash the jar in front of the men who went with you. 11Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: I will smash these people and this city as this potter’s jar was smashed beyond repair. They will bury ⌞the dead⌟ in Topheth until there’s no other place to bury them. 12That’s what I will do to this place and to those who live in it, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. 13The houses in Jerusalem, the houses of the kings of Judah, and all the rooftops of the houses will be unclean #19:13 “Unclean” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God. like this city Topheth. This is because people burned incense to the entire army of heaven and poured out wine offerings to other gods.’ ”
14Then Jeremiah left Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy. He stood in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple and said to all the people, 15“This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to bring on this city and on all its towns the disasters that I threatened. They’ve become impossible to deal with, and they refuse to obey me.”
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.