19 The Lord said to me, ‘Go to a potter. Buy from him a pot that he has made from clay. Take with you some leaders of the people and some leaders of the priests. 2 Go out into Ben-Hinnom Valley, which is near to the “Broken Pots” gate. There you must speak the words that I will tell you.
3 Say, “Hear the Lord 's message, you kings of Judah and people who live in Jerusalem. The Lord Almighty, Israel's God says this: Listen to me! I will bring very great trouble to this place. It will be very bad. Everyone who hears about it will be very surprised. 4 That will happen because Judah's people have turned away from me. They worship foreign gods in this place. They have offered sacrifices to those gods. They are gods that their ancestors did not know about. The kings of Judah never knew about them either. In this place, Judah's people have killed people who did not deserve to die. 5 They have built altars here to give honour to Baal. They light fires to give their children to Baal as burnt offerings. I never even thought about it. I never commanded my people to offer those kinds of sacrifices. I never even thought about it. 6 So I tell you this: A time will soon come when people do not call this place Topheth or Ben-Hinnom Valley. Instead, they will call it Death Valley. [ a ]
7 I will spoil all the ideas that the people of Judah and Jerusalem have. In this place I will put them under the power of their enemies. Their enemies will kill them in war. I will give their dead bodies as food to the birds and the wild animals. 8 I will make this city a heap of stones. People will see how disgusting my people are. Everybody who goes near there will be very surprised. They will see all the terrible trouble that has happened to the city and they will insult it. 9 Enemies will make their camp all around the city, so that they can kill the people who live there. The people will not have any food to eat. They will be so hungry that they will eat their own children and they will eat each other.”
10 Then, Jeremiah, take the pot that you bought. Break it in front of all those people who are there with you. 11 Tell them that the Lord Almighty says, “I will destroy this nation and this city. They will be like this broken pot that nobody is able to mend. They will bury lots of dead people here in Topheth. There will be no space left to bury any more people. 12 I tell you this: I will cause this city and its people to become like Topheth. 13 The houses in Jerusalem will be full of dead bodies like Topheth. The palaces of the kings of Judah will be the same. I will do that because people went up on the roofs of their houses to offer sacrifices to the stars. They poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’
14 Then Jeremiah left Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to speak his message. He went to the Lord 's temple in the city. He stood in the yard of the temple. He spoke aloud to the people. 15 He said, ‘The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this: “Listen to me! I will soon punish this city and all the towns around it, as I have promised that I will do. I will do it because the people have refused to listen to my message.” ’
19 The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take some of the elders of the people and some priests with you. 2 Go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the front of the Potsherd Gate. [ a ] I have a message I want you to announce there. 3 Say to those who are with you, ‘King of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to this message from the Lord ! This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says: I will soon make a terrible thing happen to this place! Everyone who hears about it will be amazed and full of fear. 4 I will do these things because the people of Judah have stopped following me. They have made this a place for foreign gods. The people of Judah have burned sacrifices in this place to other gods. The people long ago did not worship those gods. Their ancestors did not worship them. These are new gods from other countries. The kings of Judah filled this place with the blood of innocent children. 5 The kings of Judah built high places for the god Baal. They use those places to burn their sons in the fire. They burned their sons as burnt offerings to the god Baal. I did not tell them to do that. I did not ask them to offer their sons as sacrifices. I never even thought of such a thing. 6 Now people call this place Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom. But I give you this warning. This message is from the Lord : The days are coming, when people will call this place the Valley of Slaughter. 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 in this place. I will make their dead bodies food for the birds and wild animals. 8 I will completely destroy this city. People will whistle and shake their heads when they pass by Jerusalem. They will be shocked when they see how the city was destroyed. 9 The enemy will bring its army around the city. That army will not let people go out to get food, so the people in the city will begin to starve. They will become so hungry that they will eat the bodies of their own sons and daughters, and then they will begin to eat each other.’
10 “Jeremiah, tell this to the people, and while they are watching, break the jar. 11 Then say this: ‘The Lord All-Powerful says, I will break the nation of Judah and the city of Jerusalem, just as someone breaks a clay jar! And like a broken jar, the nation of Judah cannot be put together again. It will be the same for the nation of Judah. The dead people will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room. 12 I will do this to these people and to this place. I will make this city like Topheth.’ This message is from the Lord . 13 ‘The houses in Jerusalem will become as “dirty” as this place, Topheth. The kings’ palaces will be ruined like this place, Topheth, because the people worshiped false gods on the roofs of their houses. [ b ] They worshiped the stars and burned sacrifices to honor them. They gave drink offerings to false gods.’”
14 Then Jeremiah left Topheth where the Lord had told him to speak. Jeremiah went to the Lord ’s Temple and stood in the courtyard of the Temple. Jeremiah said to all the people: 15 “This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel says: ‘I said I would bring many disasters to Jerusalem and the villages around it. I will soon make this happen because the people are very stubborn. They refuse to listen and obey me.’”
19 Thus saith the Lord , Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,
3 And say, Hear ye the word of the Lord , O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;
5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord , that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
7 And 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 hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord , and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:
13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
14 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither 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 saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.
19 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a ( A ) potter’s earthenware ( B ) jar, and take some of the ( C ) elders of the people and some of the [ a ] ( D ) senior priests. 2 Then go out to the ( E ) Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the [ b ] Potsherd Gate, and ( F ) proclaim there the words that I tell you, 3 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord , you ( G ) kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold I am going to bring a ( H ) disaster upon this place, at which the ( I ) ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle. 4 Since they have ( J ) abandoned Me and have ( K ) made this place foreign, and have burned [ c ] sacrifices in it to ( L ) other gods that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and since they have filled this place with the ( M ) blood of the innocent 5 and have built the ( N ) high places of Baal to burn their ( O ) sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I did not command nor speak of, nor did it ever enter My [ d ] mind; 6 therefore, behold, ( P ) days are coming,” declares the Lord , “when this place will no longer be called ( Q ) Topheth or ( R ) the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the Valley of Slaughter. 7 And I will ( S ) frustrate the planning of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and ( T ) I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will make their ( U ) carcasses food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth. 8 I will also turn this city into an object of ( V ) horror and [ e ] hissing; ( W ) everyone who passes by it will be appalled and [ f ] hiss because of all its [ g ] disasters. 9 And I will make them ( X ) eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and in the hardship with which their enemies and those who seek their life will torment them.”’
10 “Then you are to break the ( Y ) jar in the sight of the men who accompany you, 11 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “To the same extent I will ( Z ) break this people and this city, just as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will ( AA ) bury their dead in Topheth, [ h ] 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 ( AB ) houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be ( AC ) defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the ( AD ) houses on whose rooftops they burned [ i ] sacrifices to ( AE ) all the heavenly [ j ] lights and ( AF ) 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 ( AG ) courtyard of the Lord ’ s house and said to all the people, 15 “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to bring on this city and all its towns the entire disaster that I have declared against it, because they have ( AH ) stiffened their necks so ( AI ) as not to listen to My words.’”
19 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. ( A ) Take along some of the elders ( B ) of the people and of the priests 2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, ( C ) 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 ( D ) 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 ( E ) on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. ( F ) 4 For they have forsaken ( G ) me and made this a place of foreign gods ( H ) ; they have burned incense ( I ) 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. ( J ) 5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children ( K ) in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind. ( L ) 6 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord , when people will no longer call this place Topheth ( M ) or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, ( N ) but the Valley of Slaughter. ( O )
7 “‘In this place I will ruin [ a ] the plans ( P ) of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, ( Q ) at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses ( R ) as food ( S ) to the birds and the wild animals. 8 I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn; ( T ) all who pass by will be appalled ( U ) and will scoff because of all its wounds. ( V ) 9 I will make them eat ( W ) the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies ( X ) will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’
10 “Then break the jar ( Y ) while those who go with you are watching, 11 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash ( Z ) this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury ( AA ) 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 ( AB ) in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled ( AC ) like this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs ( AD ) to all the starry hosts ( AE ) and poured out drink offerings ( AF ) to other gods.’”
14 Jeremiah then returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court ( AG ) 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 ( AH ) I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked ( AI ) and would not listen ( AJ ) to my words.’”
