Jeremiah 19
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
The Clay Jar
19 This is what the Lord says: ‘Go, buy a potter’s clay(A) jar. Take[a] some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests(B) 2 and go out to Ben Hinnom Valley(C) near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you. 3 Say, “Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.(D) 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,[b](E) 4 because they have abandoned me(F) 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.(G) 5 They 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.[c](H)
6 ‘ “Therefore, look, the days are coming(I) – this is the Lord’s declaration – when this place will no longer be called Topheth and Ben Hinnom Valley, but Slaughter Valley.(J) 7 I 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.(K) 8 I will make this city desolate, an object of scorn. Everyone who passes by it will be appalled and scoff because of all its wounds.(L) 9 I 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.”(M)
10 ‘Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the people going with you, 11 and you are to proclaim to them, “This is what the Lord of Armies says: I will shatter these people and this city, as 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.(N) 12 That is what I will do to this place – this is the declaration of the Lord – and to its residents, making this city like Topheth. 13 The 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(O) and poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’
14 Jeremiah returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple,(P) 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.” ’(Q)
Jeremiah 19
New King James Version
The Sign of the Broken Flask
19 Thus says the Lord: “Go and get a potter’s earthen flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. 2 And go out to (A)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I will tell you, 3 (B)and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will (C)tingle.
4 “Because they (D)have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with (E)the blood of the innocents 5 (F)(they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, (G)which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind), 6 therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that this place shall no more be called Tophet or (H)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, (I)and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives; their (J)corpses I will give as meat for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. 8 I will make this city (K)desolate and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. 9 And I will cause them to eat the (L)flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the desperation with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall drive them to despair.” ’
10 (M)“Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: (N)“Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot be [a]made whole again; and they shall (O)bury them in Tophet till there is no place to bury. 12 Thus I will do to this place,” says the Lord, “and to its inhabitants, and make this city like Tophet. 13 And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled (P)like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose (Q)roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and (R)poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”
14 Then Jeremiah came from Tophet, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in (S)the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, 15 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on this city and on all her towns all the doom that I have pronounced against it, because (T)they have stiffened their necks that they might not hear My words.’ ”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 19:11 restored
Copyright © 2024 by Holman Bible Publishers.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
