Jeremiah 19

1 Thus said YHWH: “Go, and you have acquired a potter’s earthen vessel, and from [the] elderly of the people, and from [the] elderly of the priests,

Thus said Yahweh, Go and buy a potter’s earthen bottle, —and take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;

2 and you have gone forth to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that [is] at the opening of the gate of the pottery, and have proclaimed there the words that I speak to you,

Then shalt thou go forth into the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is at the opening of the gate of potsherds; and proclaim there the words which I shall speak unto thee;

3 and have said, Hear a word of YHWH, you kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem!” Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: “Behold, I am bringing in evil on this place, at which the ears of everyone who is hearing it tingles,

and shalt say, —Hear ye the word of Yahweh, O kings of Judah And inhabitants of Jerusalem, —Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts—God of Israel Behold me! bringing in calamity upon this place, which shall cause the ears of every one that heareth it, to tingle:

4 because that they have forsaken Me, and make known this place, and make incense in it to other gods, that they did not know, they and their fathers, and the kings of Judah, and they have filled this place [with] innocent blood,

Because they have forsaken me, And have treated this as a foreign place, And have burned incense therein to other gods, which neither they, nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah, have known; And have filled this place with the blood of innocents;

5 and have built the high places of Ba‘al to burn their sons with fire, burnt-offerings to Ba‘al, that I did not command, nor spoke of, nor did it come up on My heart.

And have built the high places of Baal for burning up their sons in the fire as ascending-sacrifices to Baal, —Which I commanded not, Nor spake, Neither came it up on my heart,

6 Therefore, behold, days are coming,” a declaration of YHWH, “and this place is no longer called The Tophet and Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but Valley of the Slaughter.

Therefore, lo! days coming, Declareth Yahweh, When this place shall be called no longer The Topheth, or The Valley of Ben-hinnom, —but—The Valley of Slaughter;

7 And I have made void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and have caused them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those seeking their life, and I have given their carcass for food to the bird of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth,

And I will pour out 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 hand of them who seek their life, —

8 and I have made this city for a desolation, and for a hissing, everyone passing by it is astonished, and hisses for all its plagues.

And I will give their dead bodies for food, to the bird of the heavens and to the beast of the earth; And I will make this city a desolation and a hissing, —every one that passeth by it, shall be astonished and hiss over all her wounds;

9 And I have caused them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and they each eat the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the constriction with which their enemies constrict them, and those seeking their life.”

And I will suffer them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, yea every one—the flesh of his friend, will they eat, —in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith, their enemies, and they who seek their lives, will straiten them.

10 “And you have broken the bottle before the eyes of the men who are going with you,

Then shalt thou break the bottle, before the eyes of the men who are walking with thee;

11 and have said to them, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Thus I break this people and this city, as one breaks the potter’s vessel, that is not able to be repaired again, and in Tophet they bury—without place to bury;

and shalt say unto them—Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts—Thus and thus, will I break this people, and this city, As one breaketh the vessel of a potter, which cannot be made whole any more, —And in Topheth, shall they bury, for want of place to bury.

12 so I do to this place—a declaration of YHWH—and to its inhabitants, so as to make this city as Tophet;

Thus, will I do to this place Declareth Yahweh, And to the inhabitants thereof, —Even making this city like Topheth:

13 and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, have been as the place of Tophet—defiled, even all the houses on whose roofs they have made incense to all the host of the heavens, so as to pour out oblations to other gods.”

Yea, the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall like the place of Topheth, be places defiled, —even all the houses upon whose roofs they burned incense to all the host of the heavens, and poured out drink-offerings to other gods.

14 And Jeremiah comes in from Tophet, to where YHWH had sent him to prophesy, and he stands in the court of the house of YHWH, and he says to all the people:

Then entered Jeremiah out of Topheth, whither Yahweh had sent him to prophesy, —and stood in the court of the house of Yahweh, and said unto all the people:

15 “Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing to this city, and on all its cities, all the calamity that I have spoken against it, for they have hardened their neck to not hear My words!”

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Behold me! brining in against this city, and upon all the cities thereof, The whole calamity which I have pronounced against her, —Because they stiffened their neck, that they might not hear my words.