Jeremiah 19

1 Yahweh said this, “Go and purchase a potter's clay flask while you are with the elders of the people and the priests.

This is what the Lord has said: Go and get for money a potter's bottle made of earth, and take with you some of the responsible men of the people and of the priests;

2 Then go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom at the entry of the Broken Pottery Gate, and there proclaim the words that I will tell you.

And go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, by the way into the door of broken pots, and there say in a loud voice the words which I will give you;

3 Say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, “See, I am about to bring disaster on this place, and the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.

Say, Give ear to the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem; the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said, See, I will send evil on this place which will be bitter to the ears of anyone hearing of it.

4 I will do this because they have abandoned me and profaned this place. In this place they offer sacrifices to other gods that they did not know. They, their ancestors, and the kings of Judah have also filled this place with innocent blood.

Because they have given me up, and made this place a strange place, burning perfumes in it to other gods, of whom they and their fathers and the kings of Judah had no knowledge; and they have made this place full of the blood of those who have done no wrong;

5 They built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to him—something that I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.

And they have put up the high places of the Baal, burning their sons in the fire; a thing which was not ordered by me, and it was never in my mind:

6 Therefore, see, the days are coming—this is Yahweh's declaration—when this place will no longer be called Topheth, the Valley of Ben Hinnom, for it will be the Valley of Slaughter.

For this cause, see, a time is coming, says the Lord, when this place will no longer be named Topheth, or, The valley of the son of Hinnom, but, The valley of Death.

7 In this place I will make the plans of Judah and Jerusalem useless. I will make them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of the ones seeking their lives. Then I will give their corpses as food to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth.

I will make the purpose of Judah and Jerusalem come to nothing in this place; I will have them put to the sword by their haters, and by the hands of those who have designs on their life; and their dead bodies I will give to be food for the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth.

8 Then I will make this city a ruin and the object of hissing, for everyone passing by it will shudder and hiss regarding all of its plagues.

And I will make this town a thing of wonder and a cause of surprise; everyone who goes by will be overcome with wonder and make sounds of surprise, because of all its troubles.

9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters; each man will consume the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the anguish brought on them by their enemies and the ones seeking their lives.”'

I will make them take the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters for food, they will be making a meal of one another, because of their bitter need and the cruel grip of their haters and those who have made designs against their life.

10 Then you will break the clay flask in the sight of the men who went with you.

Then let the potter's bottle be broken before the eyes of the men who have gone with you,

11 You will say to them, 'Yahweh of hosts says this: I will do this same thing to this people and this city—this is Yahweh's declaration—just as Jeremiah shattered the clay flask so that it could not be repaired again. People will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no place left for any more dead.

And say to them, This is what the Lord of armies has said: Even so will this people and this town be broken by me, as a potter's bottle is broken and may not be put together again: and the bodies of the dead will be put in the earth in Topheth, till there is no more room.

12 This is what I will do to this place and its inhabitants when I make this city like Topheth—this is Yahweh's declaration—

This is what I will do to this place, says the Lord, and to its people, making this town like Topheth:

13 so the houses of Jerusalem and of the kings of Judah will become like Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops the unclean people worship all the stars of the heavens and pour out drink offerings to other gods.'”

And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which they have made unclean, will be like the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs perfumes have been burned to all the army of heaven, and drink offerings drained out to other gods.

14 Then Jeremiah went from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy. He stood in the courtyard of Yahweh's house and he said to all the people,

Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to give the prophet's word; and he took his place in the open square of the Lord's house, and said to all the people,

15 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, 'See, I am about to bring to this city and to all of its towns all the disaster that I have proclaimed against it, since they stiffened their neck and refused to listen to my words.'”

The Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: See, I will send on this town and on all her towns all the evil which I have said; because they made their necks stiff, so that they might not give ear to my words.