^10 (A)King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech.

³⁰ “The people of Judah have done an evil thing. They have placed their idols, which I hate, in my Temple and have defiled it. ^31 (A)In Hinnom Valley they have built an altar called Topheth, so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire. I did not command them to do this—it did not even enter my mind.

The Broken Jar

19 The Lord told me to go and buy a clay jar. He also told me to take some of the elders of the people and some of the older priests, ^2 (A)and to go through Potsherd Gate out to Hinnom Valley. There I was to proclaim the message that he would give me. ³ The Lord told me to say, “Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, have to say. I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. ⁴ I am going to do this because the people have abandoned me and defiled this place by offering sacrifices here to other gods—gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known anything about. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people, ^5 (B)and they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind. ⁶ So then, the time will come when this place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. Instead, it will be known as Slaughter Valley.