Jeremiah 19

¹Thus saith Jehovah: Go and buy an earthen bottle of the potter, And take with thee the elders of the people, And the elders of the priests,

²And go forth to the valley of the son of Hinnom, At the entrance of the pottery-gate, And proclaim there the words Which I shall speak to thee.

³Say, Hear the word of Jehovah, Ye kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am about to bring such an evil upon this place, That whoever heareth of it, his ears shall tingle.

⁴For they have forsaken me, And have alienated this place, And have burned incense in it to strange gods, Which neither they, nor their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, And have filled this place with the blood of innocent children,

⁵And have built high places to Baal, To burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings to Baal; Which I ordained not, and commanded not, And which never came into my mind.

⁶Therefore, behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, When this place shall no more be called Tophet, Nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, But the valley of Slaughter.

⁷For I will in this place bring to naught the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, 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 dead bodies will I give for food To the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth.

⁸And I will make this city a wonder and a hissing; Every one that passeth by it shall wonder and hiss, On account of all its plagues.

⁹For I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and of their daughters, Yea, the flesh of each other shall they eat, In the straitness and the distress With which their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall press them.

¹⁰Then break thou the bottle Before the eyes of the men that go with thee.

¹¹And say to them: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, As one breaks a potter’s vessel which cannot be made whole again; And they shall be buried in Tophet, till there is no room to bury.

¹²Thus will I do to this place and to its inhabitants, saith Jehovah, And I will make this city itself like Tophet;

¹³And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be unclean, like the place of Tophet, All the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, And poured out drink-offerings to strange gods.

¹⁴Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, Whither Jehovah had sent him to prophesy, And stood in the court of the house of Jehovah, And said to all the people:

¹⁵Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am about to bring upon this city, and upon all the cities belonging to it, All the evil which I have pronounced against it; For they have made their necks stiff, And refused to hearken to my words.

Jeremiah 19

¹Thus 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;

²And 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,

³And 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.

⁴Because 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;

⁵They 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:

⁶Therefore, 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.

⁷And 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.

⁸And 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.

⁹And 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.

¹⁰Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,

¹¹And 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.

¹²Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:

¹³And 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.

¹⁴Then 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,

¹⁵Thus 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.