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
Jeremiah 19
1599 Geneva Bible
19 He prophesieth the destruction of Jerusalem for the contempt and despising of the word of God.
1 Thus saith the Lord, Go, and buy an earthen bottle of a potter, and take of the ancients for the people, and of the ancients of the Priests,
2 And go forth unto the valley of Ben-Hinnom, which is by the entry of the [a]East gate: and thou shalt preach there the words, that I shall tell thee,
3 And shalt say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O [b]Kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring a plague upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall [c]tingle.
4 Because they have forsaken me, and profaned this place, and have burnt incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they, nor their fathers have known, nor the Kings of Judah (they have filled this place also with the blood of innocents,
5 And they have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I [d]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 [e]Topheth, nor the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter.
7 And I will bring the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem to nought in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their lives: and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the field.
8 (A)And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing, so that everyone that passeth thereby, shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
9 (B)And I will feed them with the flesh of their sons, and with the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies that seek their lives, shall hold them strait.
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 [f]potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again, and they shall bury them in Topheth till there be no place to bury.
12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and I will make this city like Topheth.
13 For the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the Kings of Judah shall be defiled as the place of Topheth, because of all the [g]houses upon whose [h]roofs they have burnt incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
14 Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, where 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 plagues that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, and would not hear my words.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 19:2 Or, gate of the sun.
- Jeremiah 19:3 By Kings here and in other places are meant counselors and governors of the people: which he calleth the ancients, verse 1.
- Jeremiah 19:3 Read of this phrase, 1 Sam. 3:11.
- Jeremiah 19:5 Whereby is declared, that whatsoever is not commanded by God’s word touching his service, is against his word.
- Jeremiah 19:6 Read Jer. 7:31 and 2 Kings 23:10; Isa. 30:33.
- Jeremiah 19:11 This visible sign was to confirm them touching the assurance of this plague, which the Lord threatened by his prophet.
- Jeremiah 19:13 He noteth the great rage of the idolaters, which left no place free from their abominations, insomuch as they polluted their own houses therewith, as we see yet among the Papists.
- Jeremiah 19:13 Read Deut. 22:8.
Jeremiah 19
Complete Jewish Bible
19 Adonai then said, “Go; buy a clay jar from the potter; take some of the people’s leaders and some of the leading cohanim; 2 and go out into the Ben-Hinnom Valley, by the entry to the Potsherd Gate. There you are to proclaim the words I am about to tell you. 3 Say: ‘Hear the word of Adonai, kings of Y’hudah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim! This is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: “I am about to bring disaster on this place that will make the ears of whoever hears about it ring. 4 This is because they have abandoned me and alienated this place. In it they have offered to other gods that neither they nor their ancestors have known, nor the kings of Y’hudah. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people. 5 They have built the high places of Ba‘al, in order to burn up their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Ba‘al — something I never ordered or said; it never even entered my mind.
6 “‘“Therefore the time is coming,” says Adonai, “when this place will no longer be called either Tofet or the Ben-Hinnom Valley, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 I will nullify the plans of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim in this place. I will have them fall by the sword before their enemies and at the hand of those seeking their lives, and I will give their corpses as food for the birds in the air and the wild animals. 8 I will make this city an object of horror and ridicule; everyone passing by will be horrified and will ridicule it because of all its wounds. 9 I will cause them to eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters; everyone will be eating the flesh of his friends during the siege, because of the shortage imposed on them by their enemies and those set on killing them.”’
10 “Then you are to smash the jar in front of the people who went with you, 11 and say to them, ‘Adonai-Tzva’ot says that this is how I will break this people and this city, just as one smashes a potter’s vessel beyond the possibility of repair. The dead will be buried in Tofet, because there will be no space left for burial [anywhere else]. 12 That is what I will do to this place,’ says Adonai ‘and to its inhabitants; I will make it like Tofet. 13 The houses of Yerushalayim and those of the kings of Y’hudah will be defiled like this place Tofet — yes, all the houses on whose roofs they have offered to all the stars in heaven and poured out drink offerings to other gods.’”
14 Then Yirmeyahu returned from Tofet, where Adonai had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of Adonai’s house and said to all the people, 15 “This is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘I am bringing on this city and all its surrounding villages all the disaster I have pronounced against it; because they have stiffened their necks and refused to pay attention to my words.’”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.